Increasing pressures are being placed on social housing landlords when faced with replacing ageing and inefficient heating systems or when considering options for new build projects. With added pressures to be eco-friendly and to co-inside with government regulations towards sustainable homes standards the decisions become even harder.
Abdul Raaj of Süka Heating systems believes the solution is electricity. Gone are the days of the inefficient night storage heaters, now with modern technology it is possible to get 60 minutes of heating for 15 minutes of electricity, great for tenants and landlords alike.
The maintenance-free Süka heating systems use electricity to power units that plug straight into the wall. Unlike conventional radiators that just heat the air in the room, the Süka heaters radiate the heat to heat up the walls and furniture of the room, which these too store the heat and radiate it out. The building shell and its contents are used as thermal mass, becoming a store of heat.
“The traditional radiator does not, in fact, radiate, it convects heat, so the air is warmed and circulated in the room to reach the required temperature. But these systems cause the hot air to rise quickly – ceilings are warm but the floors are cold,” explains Abdul. “The result is warm heads and cold feet.”
“The most remarkable thing about the traditional radiator is that the valves fitted on them only measure the temperature of the hot water flowing into the radiator, not the temperature of the room. So, if one room needs more warmth than another, or vice versa, the boiler does not and cannot, adjust to that specific need and reduce consumption of fuel.”
Süka heating systems are complemented with a range of controllers that enable the user to change the temperature of individual rooms. The control process measures the room temperature to determine how much power is needed.
Abdul continues to say: “If ambitions for new sustainable homes are to be realised then a number of drastic steps have to be taken by builders and developers.
“Consider the ambition to reduce carbon emissions and atmospheric pollution by encouraging local energy generation from renewable sources to supply a significant proportion of the energy demand. Surely that’s best achieved with electricity.
“I believe that electricity is the indisputable source of energy for heating in the future. It can be generated by several means including combined heat and power plants, solar, wind turbines, sea wave and many more. It is a truly green alternative to conventional central heating systems.”