Interactive Schematic Data Sheet Documentation Wiring WRAS Certificates PowerPoint Presentation Case Study

A FULLY VENTED SYSTEM.
NO PRESSURISED STORAGE.
NO SPECIAL TRAINING REQUIRED.
NO ANNUAL MAINTENANCE REQUIRED.
LIFETIME GUARANTEE ON STORE.
THE MOST EFFICIENT GAS SYSTEM EVER!

Patent Applied For.

The Dublin Heat Bank Thermal Store has been designed to meet local authority requirements for a hot water system that is more efficient and cheaper to run than current installations. The aim of the design has been to maximise the efficiency of all thermal technologies that can be fitted to new build or retro-fitted to existing properties, reducing maintenance requirements and improving reliability by taking an existing combination boiler installation and adding facilities for flue heat recovery from the gas boiler, as well as solar and wood burners.

The advantages of adding the technologies using the Dublin Heat Bank Thermal Store are as follows:

• Flue Heat Recovery systems can significantly improve the efficiency of a condensing boiler, and if connected to a suitably sized store will provide hot water during the heating season, using the recovered heat from the flue gases. The heat recovery unit uses direct connection which is significantly more efficient than using coils.
    
• Solar panels can connect to the Dublin Heat Bank Thermal Store to provide up to 50% of the households annual hot water requirements, with up to 100% of daily requirements on sunny days. The solar system uses a drain-down protection method that overcomes problems relating to freezing or overheat, and also removes the need for antifreeze and regular maintenance to maintain system pressure and anti-freeze content.
    
• Wood burners can be connected directly to the Dublin Heat Bank Thermal Store using two connections provided as standard. This allows the wood burner to supplement both central heating and hot water, and can significantly reduce running costs and the carbon footprint of the property. Combined with a local supply of wood, this method of heating can provide low cost hot water and heating during winter months.
    
• The pre-heat system that the Dublin Heat Bank Thermal Store employs uses stored energy to heat up water for domestic use. If the heated water is not quite hot enough for domestic use then it is fed through the combination boiler to be topped up to a suitable temperature. This method ensures that a minimum amount of gas is used, and the boiler is never used to heat stored water that may be left to go cold, or could otherwise have been heated using a free energy source.
    
• Electric backup to hot water is provided by an optionally fitted immersion heater in the Dublin Heat Bank Thermal Store. This adds an important backup feature that allows the user to run hot water on electricity if the boiler should fail to fire. It also allows the possibility of connecting a wind turbine or other low cost electrical source to further reduce running costs.
    
• Heat Pumps are another low temperature heat source that is often too low in temperature to provide adequate hot water. When used in conjunction with the Dublin Heat Bank Thermal Store, heat pumps can generate the majority of the stored energy using cheap rate overnight electricity, and this can then be topped up for use by the combination boiler.
   
• Effective protection against Legionella Bacteria, even with low storage temperatures.
   
• No annual maintenance requirements, and no need for unvented qualifications.

The interactive diagram below shows hot the system works, and how it can combine with additional heat sources and loads.
Alternatively, CLICK HERE to download.

 
Dedicated Pressure Systems have been designing thermal storage systems to run using multiple fuel sources for over fifteen years.
In our experience, most hot water systems that are installed correctly to the industry standard should have no concern about legionella bacteria. This is assuming the boiler is fitted with a programmer and the hot water cylinder is fitted with a thermostat which will heat the DHW to 60°C and that is normally the case with most systems. However with oil, gas, and electricity prices now soaring, renewable energies are slowly making their way into the mainstream. The pressure to find alternative cheaper sources of heat is driving a huge increase in demand for, solar panels and wind turbines, heat pumps and wood burning systems. These alternatives can significantly reduce running costs and the carbon footprint of the property, however as these alternatives supply heat to DHW at variable temperatures it changes the installations from the industry standard we are familiar with. As a consequence it is essential to to ensure guaranteed measures are put in place as protection against legionella. Solar collection temperatures can be affected by conditions such as cloudy overcast days, poor sunshine in late and early seasons. Ground source heat pumps operate on low and variable conditions, which depend on ground heat absorption, collection area and method of installation. 

Raising the supply temperature to 60°C by diverting the water through a combination boiler to raise the temperature is no guarantee against legionella as the disinfection range is as follows:

66°C legionella die within 2 minutes,
60°C legionella die within 3 minutes,
55°C legionella die within 5 to 6 hours.
Source: Chartered Institute of Plumbers and Heating Engineers... http://www.iphe.org.uk/databyte/legionella.pdf

The only Guaranteed solution and recommendation as a precaution against legionella (other than using a thermal store) is to maintain the DHW water cylinder at a temperature of 60°C. This is normally programmed to run late at night to ensure the water temperature is raised to 60°C without interruption i.e. drawing water off running taps etc. However while this is a solution it presents another serious problem with efficiency. A typical cylinder with factory applied insulation will may loose as little as 2 or 3 degrees over twenty four hours. The point also arises of timing the 60°C sterilization cycle to say once per week, or a length of time determined by risk assessment, which then leads on to the risk of end users turning off this function to keep running costs to a minimum.  

As the water temperature in the Heat Bank Thermal Store does not have to be raised to 60°C as protection against legionella it offers the solar panels, ground source heat pump or any other heat source full potential to heat from cold start continually. Furthermore, by using a combination boiler to post-heat the domestic hot water, there is no need to heat up the top half of the store with the boiler in preparation for a draw off and the entire storage volume can be dedicated to renewables.

The following graph is an extract from the monitored data from the first installation of the Dublin Heat Bank Thermal Store.  These readings were taken with a boiler flow temperature to radiators at 65°C and show how a 200 litre Dublin Heat Bank Thermal Store, used in conjunction with Ravenheat's Energy Catcher device, achieved temperatures over 45°C, representing a significant quantity of reclaimed heat from the flue gases.  More data will be added to this page as it obtained.

To fully future proof the Dublin Heat Bank Thermal Stores, connections are provided for adding a wood burner or heat pump.  The DPS range of Heat Bank Thermal Stores allow for direct connection of any make of wood burner, stove or boiler, and provide one of the safest ways of utilising wood to provide mains pressure hot water.  They also allow heating circuits to be run from the store, in addition to the gas boiler.

Click Here to read about the options available when using wood burners.

To summarise...

The Dublin Heat Bank Thermal Store used in conjunction with a combination boiler will significantly increase the efficiency of solar panel installation, ground source heat pumps or any other heat appliance supplying heat at variable temperatures.

• Highest boiler efficiency available on the market due to the flue recovery unit (DPS recommend the Ravenheat EnergyCatcher).
• Completely guaranteed against legionella bacteria.
• Boiler is never used to heat stored water that may be left to go cold, or could otherwise have been heated using a free energy source.
• Compatible with any heat source at any temperature (<90°C).
• Fully adaptable to accept any form of heat appliance wood pellet, solar panels, ground source heat pumps, photovoltaic, biomass.
• No inhibitor required, no corrosive parts, (stainless steel tank, plastic head pumps).
• Can be retrofitted to existing systems, guaranteeing full condensing using existing radiators.
• Boilers can be operated at 80°C if required, still guaranteeing full condensing mode.
• Significantly reduced plumbing.
• All components come fully assembled, pre-wired and tested from factory.
• Lifetime guarantee on Dublin Heat Bank Thermal Store based on Duplex Stainless Steel tested to 9 bar pressure.

The Dublin Heat Bank Thermal Store can significantly reduce running costs and reduce the carbon footprint of the property.

The Dublin Heat Bank Thermal Store gives you efficiency, reliability, performance, future proofing, and low running costs, in a pre-assembled, pre-wired and tested package.

A FULLY VENTED SYSTEM.
NO PRESSURISED STORAGE.
NO SPECIAL TRAINING REQUIRED.
NO ANNUAL MAINTENANCE REQUIRED.
LIFETIME GUARANTEE ON STORE.

Converting existing systems into a Dublin Heat Bank Thermal Store...

DPS also manufacture a patented device we call our Hi-Flow Unit that allows any existing hot water storage cylinder to be converted into a Heat Bank Thermal Store, providing the same key advantages as the Dublin Heat Bank Thermal Store.

This route provides a low cost solution with minimal disruption to the existing system.

The DPS Hi-Flow is available in various pre-fabricated formats, and is the only choice for converting existing stores to high pressure water supplies.

See Also...

Lithotherm low temperature underfloor heating tiles, launched by DPS in Ireland, to be used in conjunction with Heat Bank Thermal Store systems to provide central heating using stored heat. 

We have seen many ways of providing central heating... radiators, underfloor heating, skirting board heating, wall heating, and more... but when we have to design storage systems to drive central heating the key figure in calculation is the return temperature from the heating. Radiators tend to be the worst load to design for as they may need a flow of 80°C and have a return as high as 70°C, so once the thermal store has dropped to 70°C, it becomes impossible to drive full load, and output drops off. The Lithotherm tiles provide return temperatures as low as 30°C, and compared to radiators give up to 5 times of effective central heating output from the same sized store. The low temperature of 30°C also makes it possible to drive central heating using low grade heat sources such as solar, heat pumps, and flue capture systems.  Combine this with the time savings that can be gained from not pouring the floor and waiting for it to dry.

• The Lithotherm tiles are made of clay, and they have a consistent quality as well as excellent
  rigidity and dimensional accuracy.
• The small installation height of 45 mm and solid bulk make these plates ideal for dry paved floors at new constructions sites and for renovating old buildings.
• The construction time can be reduced by many weeks, not having to wait for cement to dry.
• The heating tubes, which lie on top in close contact with the  tiles in rounded grooves, allow fast temperature regulation.
• In transitional periods, the system is particularly cost-effective.
• The heating tubes that run directly under the flooring require a very low flow temperature. This makes the system an excellent combination with fuel value devices, solar systems and heat pumps.
• The system can also be used for floor or ceiling cooling. 
• Wall heating can be set up similar to floor heating.
• The system is fully developed and proven in many installations in Germany.

The heating tubes, which run directly under the floor covering, guarantee direct dissipation of the radiant heat in the room. The grooves in the Lithotherm form plates, which are open towards the top, increase the radiating surface of the floor covering by approximately 60%. The increased upward flow of heat ensures a well-balanced floor temperature and keeps the temperature of the bottom of the Lithotherm form plates approximately 30% lower. With the LITHOTHERM SYSTEM, the room is heated first, and then heat is stored in the Lithotherm form plates after the heating system has been operating for a longer period of time.

For supply of Lithotherm in the UK please go to www.clayfloor.com