The Art of Design Issue 21 2016 | Page 69

69 If we take the worst-case scenario of a operational so there is no downtime for cylinder failure the whole thing needs the hotel, restaurant or any other facility to be replaced and this is no easy task that uses hot water as a criteria feature. especially when you consider the weight. “Some facilities even opt to buy an You are now looking at multiple problems: additional heater so that the system will always operate at full capacity even during a) You have lost all hot water capability. servicing.” b) You need to pay for a replacement (if it isn’t covered by warranty). Goggin concludes: “Business and building c) You have to pay for engineers to remove owners need to talk to the growing body Rinnai UK’s warranty database shows the faulty one and replace it, which can of installers who have come to realise 0.003% first year failure rate. (2013 is when take days to change. the advantages of the Rinnai system. the new database was set up.) Significant apex and opex saving can be If we then look at a Rinnai Infinity water achieved by considering continuous flow ** All water-heating products sold in heater or multiples thereof, the down time over stored hot water systems while at the the UK need to meet minimum energy would be reduced to around 30 minutes same time offering built-in reliability and performance criteria in order to be legally or, in the case of multiple units, putting peace of mind that their businesses won’t placed on the market, and require an up with reduced capacity for a very short grind to a halt due to a lack of hot water energy label. period of time. – ever.” * With regards to the reliability of Servicing not only reduces the down cost of the business but can also reduce the servicing cost as a Rinnai water heater can be fully serviced and back operating within one hour. If a unit fails and needs replacing, this can be done in a couple of hours and a bank of heaters maintains the facility to provide hot water, albeit at a slightly reduced capacity, while one of the heaters is down. According to Rinnai UK Associate Director Chris Goggin: “Because a Rinnai Infinity hot water system draws water directly from the mains and only heats the water needed at the time there is no need to incorporate a storage vessel in the system. “The configuration of the Rinnai system is supportive of reliability, as it incorporates built-in redundancy, multiple heat engines therefore a percentage of the system is always in operation ensuring no downtime. Conversely, if you have a cylinder and you need to service it, or it breaks down, you are left with nothing but a standing body of water. And Legionella can breed in a standing body of water. “Rinnai gives large consumers of water the added benefit of maintaining operation by using multiple heaters; let’s say three so the total system is made up 33.3% by each heater. If one breaks down or needs servicing there is still 66.66% of the system the units themselves a comparison of unit sales from 2013 until April 2016 against For more information on the RINNAI product range visit www.rinnaiuk.com