A report in the latter part of 2010 from BSRIA questioned the viability of heat pumps working with a combination of underfloor heating (UFH) and radiators. Chris Weightman, Nu-Heat’s Senior Development Engineer looks at the issues that surround such a system and what practical solutions are available.  

The main concern about the integration of UFH and radiators is the basic thermodynamic law that heat output is related to a difference in temperature (in this instance between the radiator and the room) and the heat transfer area. Put simply, radiators are designed to run at high temperatures because they comprise a comparatively small area. UFH, on the other hand, has a relatively large area for heat transfer and therefore can afford to run at lower temperatures, making the system a more suitable partner for the low temperatures associated with heat pumps.    

Why radiators?

It is often assumed that a request for a heat pump to work with radiators on the first floor and UFH on the ground floor is to do with cost. However, it is frequently down to practical issues. For example, in a retrofit situation it might be impractical to disrupt the flooring in the upstairs accommodation. In new build, UFH might be considered at a stage of the build that is too late for installation. And of course people can be set in their ways, feeling for unsubstantiated reasons that radiators are better in a bedroom than underfloor.

Design

If radiators are felt to be the required solution, the key is to make sure that the company designing and supplying the heat pump and UFH is involved in the radiator sizing and specification, as this has to be correct to ensure that the system performs well and achieves energy efficiency. Otherwise, the system could mistakenly be sized to high flow temperatures and fail to reach its full potential.

Radiator solution

Conventional thinking is that for radiators to work with heat pumps, they need to be grossly oversized (compared to when used to a boiler) in order to cope with the heating requirement. This is of course impractical in many situations, either from the perspective of available space or the need to maximize usable wall space for other purposes.  

The only realistic solution at the moment is to use ‘high output ‘radiators that are able to achieve the required output using the lower flow temperatures. Nu-Heat, for example, often designs systems integrating UFH on the ground floor with Jaga Strada radiators on the first floor. These radiators feature an intelligent temperature monitoring function ensuring that the low energy fans integral to the radiators boost output by precisely the right amount. From the perspective of energy efficiency they do use a small amount of electricity, but this is only 20 watts and is not continuous.  

The ultimate aim with this configuration is to keep the UFH and radiator temperature exactly the same in order to maintain the efficiency of the heat pump system – that is, low temperatures and a good Coefficient of Performance (CoP).

Controls

With a standard heating system, the timing of the UFH is very different to the timing of the radiators. UFH has a slower response when coming on and going off, whereas radiators have a more instantaneous response. With such a difference in response needs, the controls are also very different.

Where a heat pump is integrated, there is no timing involved with the heat pump element of the system due to the integral weather compensation facility, meaning, in essence, that the heating is on all the time. As the heat fed into the system is matched to the heat load of the property, the system should be balanced, so there should be no conflict between the timing of the radiators and the UFH.

However, whilst in an ideal world a heat pump system should be perfectly balanced, experience shows that in reality the thermostat for the UFH and the thermostatic radiator valve (TRV) are often used to handle any fine tuning.

Buffer tank

With the possibility that part of the heating system will turn off, a buffer tank will be needed, so that the heat pump always ‘sees’ something to work against. Where radiators might be deemed unsuitable because the total volume of the system might be low, a buffer tank will offer a practical solution.

Nu-Heat is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

Talk to your local builder long enough and the pressures of meeting the ever changing standards of building regulations will inevitably come up. And not in a nice way. Is there any rhyme or reason behind the seemingly endless changes in regulations for new builds? Well yes, there is.

The construction industry has been given a timeline punctuated with various levels of sustainable building practices, which should culminate in 2016 with carbon neutral buildings – otherwise known as Level 6 Building Code. Carbon neutral buildings should create as much energy as it takes to build them, or to create the materials that are used to build them. They should be airtight and superbly insulated to create the most thermally efficient building possible.

Good architects and builders are already achieving Level 5, but there is a large hill to climb in the next five years if we are to achieve the ultimate low energy model of the German Passivhaus system.

Many in the industry are more concerned with the leaky old houses that we all live in – well 26m of us anyway. The Great British Refurb Campaign is working hard with the government and industry leaders to create a plan that will help the rest of us to improve the energy performance of our properties. Adding insulation and solar panels or renewable energy to a property costs money that many of us don’t have. The governments plan is called ‘The Green Deal’ which should provide applicants with a loan of up to £6,500 to improve their property. The 25 year loan will be carried by the property and will be passed on to the new owners should the current owners move on. Those who decide to invest in new technology and create their own energy can potentially save vast amounts on their energy bills (up to 80%) and earn at the same time, by selling any excess back to the national grid under the new Feed In Tariff.

The energy performance of a property is already recorded in the EPC report carried out by estate agents for every property that is marketed. This report will be increasingly important over the next few years. We could soon be reaching the point where the thermal efficiency of a property might actually make it more desirable and add a premium to the final asking price. A strong argument for even the harshest climate change sceptics!

Gecco Interiors Limited is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

Introduction to Permaculture 19-20 March  4-5 May 2011

Green Architecture Day 26 March 2011

Self-build an Earthship 10-12 June 2011

Pruning Old Fruit Trees 14-15 Jan 17-18 Jan 2012

For details & bookings: www.brightonpermaculture.org.uk

Brighton Permaculture Trust is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

Love Makes the World Go Round

Why not show someone how much you care about them and the rest of the world to by giving a Fair Trade Valentine Gift

• Say it with Love …………… Fair Trade Namaste Cushion with ‘love’ embroidery
• Say it from the Heart …    Fair Trade Bracelet – Dark Blue Glass Hearts by Manumit
• Say it with a picture …….  Fair Trade Namaste Mini gem mirror heart photo frame   

…and many more ideas for Valentine’s day at www.mimosastyle.co.uk

Give a little love to that special someone and also to the world today !

Mimosastyle is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

I remember when I used to wait for a train on the London Underground as a student back in the Nineties. As with today, the announcer would inform the commuters of the lines that had disruptions on them within the Network. The District line was suspended or their was an electrical fault on the Central line. The information was crucial to journey planning. Then one day the messages changed. As well as being kept informed of the ‘problems’ on the line, the announcer started to tell us what was right with the Network. Announcements proclaiming that there was a good service on the Underground Network would punctuate the air. Someone, somewhere within the organisation realised that ALL the messages up to that point had been negative.

Whilst these negative messages were accurate and appreciated (especially if the line you planned to travel on was not affected) they didn’t instill much confidence. After all, if all you hear about something is that it doesn’t work, you begin to think it’s a bit crap. It did however instill a sense of trust. It meant that you could rely on the objectivity of the information even though you may have felt the network was crumbling before you.

Since then, London Transport has done even more to be transparent about their service. Drivers now keep us informed of the signaling issues whilst we wait between stations.

The original lesson learned by London Transport and subsequently by other brand managers is sometimes the driving force behind declaring the good aspects of ones organisation. It is important to instill confidence in what we do. That is, however, only part of the picture.

The lesson that must be remembered is that you can also instill trust by having the systems in place to alert your staff or customers of what is wrong. Not enough brand communications managers tell of what is wrong first. There are ’sandwich’ techniques for this where you place the negative message in between two positive ones.

I believe that to be a truly transparent brand you have to explain what is wrong sometimes even before you tell of what is right. That’s the kind of culture that will strive to be more customer focussed. That’s the kind of culture where trust is earned and confidence is built. That’s the kind of brand that can, on a good day, say ‘there is a good service on all lines’ and the message will be believed.

epitype is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

Hi  Everyone – We are Mimosastyle Ltd – a Fair Trade on-line retailer selling fashion accessories (Handbags, scarves, purses, brooches), jewellery, gifts (candles, stationary) and childrens toys. All our products come from Fair Trade, ethically sourced or eco-friendly suppliers, many of whom are BAFTS members as we hope to be ourselves soon. We are delighted to join Ethical Junction and become part of the wider ethical business community.

so check us out at http://www.mimosastyle.co.uk

 All the best, Gary and Katrina, Mimosastyle.co.uk  

Mimosastyle is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

My previous blog, How to design a winning reusable bag gave an overview of the planning and design process, now I am going to discuss how best to supply artwork when creating a branded reusable bag.

The process below can apply to screen printed non-woven, rPET and cotton bags or full colour laminated non-woven and woven reusable bags.

The following tips will save you time and money and will ultimately lead to creating an attractive and effective bag.

1. FONTS
If you have have text or a strap line that you would like printed in a specific font onto your bags, make sure you supply the font name and outline details when submitting artwork. Even if you provide the fonts electronically in a file it might need to be recreated, having the exact details will make it easier for the design layout team.

2. PANTONE COLOURS
If you have specific Pantone (PMS) colours used for your logo or brand image the style guidelines and pantone numbers /details need to be given. This way an exact match can be made for the ink printing colours. The Pantone colours can usually be derived from artwork files supplied but having the specific pantone codes will ensure an exact match.

3. HIGH RESOLUTION FILES
Artwork should be provided as high-resolution PDF or JPG files. 300 dpi is ideal and images should be no less than 180 dpi.

4. TYPE OF FILES
High resolution PDF or JPG does work, but ideally artwork should be saved as a Original Vector Art file (EPS) format in Illustrator, Corel Draw, Photoshop or Freehand format. Files should be originals created in these formats. The print quality will be related to quality of the art files used to create the printing template.

5. COLOUR PRINTING
CMYK: refers to the four inks used in some color printing: cyan, magenta, yellow, and key black. With regards to CMYK and creating printing plates for your reusable bags, it means artwork can be made up of CMYK plus 1 PMS color and white in total. Or up to 5 PMS colors plus white.

Full Colour Artwork: When making the printing plates the colour data is analyzed by a professional computer and then the samples made. Colours appearing visually on a normal computer screen are not a 100% indication of what the physical sample will look like. This is because each computer has different colour settings & resolutions.

The colours on the physical sample are made with the colour data on the artwork. To ensure an exact match, each spot colour pantone should be outlined. Each different colour should be on a separate layer where possible, this enables grips, bleeds and cutting lines to be added.

6. ATTACHING FILES FOR EMAIL
Files can be sent by email or FTP (File Transfer Protocol). When sending files save a version in PDF format as well as any other format you are sending it in.

6. WHAT NEXT
Once the correct files have been accepted a designer will create a layout of what the bag will look like with the submitted artwork. The layout will be sent to you in PDF format. This gives you an opportunity to make amendments to layout before it goes into physical production. Generally one or two minor changes are permitted but if many artwork layouts are required a charge may be incurred for time and labour.

Besides increasing your costs it could extend the process and risk missing deadlines.

By making sure your files are in the right format as described above and by providing adequate instructions your ecobags will turn out exactly as you want.

If you have any questions about providing artwork for branded reusable bags, do leave a comment or contact leanne@smartbags.co.uk

Smart Bags is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

Come up smelling of roses this Valentine’s Day with these gorgeous gift ideas….

We recommend:

• Luxurious Evolve Body Care Set 
• Relaxing Trevarno relaxing Bath and Body Oil 
• Beautiful Labyrinth Rose scented Bath Truffles

We also have stylish gifts for the man in your life.

Our products are exclusively natural and organic and suitable for vegetarians, many are also vegan-friendly.

For more Valentine’s inspiration visit www.naturalworkscompany.co.uk

The Natural Works Company is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more