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Pioneer has been involved in many commercial
applications, including the PwC tower in Midrand, the
extension of the Rosebank Mall, Freedom Park, some
government buildings, and even piping containers
to be shipped for living quarters. Currently, they are
busy with the Brits Hospital’s staff accommodation,
which boasts in excess of 86km of piping just for the
hydronic system. They have also been involved with
providing underfloor heating for Woolworths. But here
the heat is generated by means of heat recovery,
virtually free as there is no heat source. The heat is
generated as a by-product of the CO 2 trans-critical
refrigeration plant. The hot CO 2 generated from
the refrigerated plant is directed through a heat
exchanger, which generates the hot water that is
pumped back into the floor system. Thus, the only
running cost comes from the circulation pump.
The Crown Technologies team have quoted on anything from
yoga studios to butterfly farms and everything in-between.
As the heat rises from the floor, it works particularly well
in applications with large open areas and double-volume
spaces, like airports for example, Britz says.
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Electrical heating in particular works well in chicken batteries,
explains Tewson. They have been supplying a number of
hatcheries for many years now, improving the mortality rate of
day-old chicks significantly. Traditionally, a large heat source is
installed and the chicks huddle around it when it gets cold and
then as much as half of them die from dehydration within the
first week. So, they installed underfloor heating instead and
not only did it prevent the chicks from dying, their slaughter
date moved up by a week as they could feed day and night
now. It worked so well that underfloor heating was installed in
seven more of that farmer’s hatcheries.
Crocodile farms, veterinary clinic animal recovery
enclosures, saunas, and so much more. If you require
heating, underfloor is a good choice. Even frost
protection of the surface below cold-storage rooms —
there is a need for underfloor heating to prevent the
sub-floor from freezing, cracking, and lifting, as well as
preventing ice from building up, causing items either to
stick to the floor or slide on slippery hazardous surfaces.
To be continued: Read Part 2 in an upcoming
edition of Plumbing Africa. PA
January 2019 Volume 25 I Number 1