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PROJECT
The other factor was that there were no energy or water meters at all . There is now proper metering of both water and electricity to establish accurate readings and savings in the plant room .
The point on maintenance was strongly made as this not only ensures that the system functions as expected but additional tweaking can be done to improve performance and delivery .
Appreciating that in the 70s electricity was cheap , and elements were the normal installation type . Solar came along and was followed by heat pumps and due to lack of correct specifying and installation suffered some setbacks . Now one has rising electricity costs , improved solar and heat pump knowledge and Solar Thermal for commercial and industrial applications must become the norm . A hotel , business or commercial building requires hot water all day , so the configuration of the solar thermal system is critical .
As with solar PV , solar thermal is coming back strongly as it is now showing tangible evidence of savings which is essential in today ’ s climate of increasing costs .
Solar Heat Exchangers Plumbing Africa Rory Macnamara Plumbing Africa Rory Macnamara
Boiler room showing two locally manufactured tanks .
Hot water mixing valve .
The entire system was done according to SANS 10400 XA which calls for 50 % alternative energy sources as well as SANS 10252 for the plumbing portion . PA
Client :
Wet Service Engineer :
Engineer :
Contractor :
Auria Senior Living – Director , Gavin Muller General manager , Mario Maree
Wills , Franklin – Pretorius Consulting Engineers
Steve Franklin
Solar Heat Exchangers – Michael Dilley , Shaun Reiche
“ The point on maintenance was strongly made …”
Schematic of the new installation
www . plumbingafrica . co . za @ plumbingonline @ plumbingonline @ PlumbingAfricaOnline January 2023 Volume 28 I Number 11