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There’s no denying the attractiveness of Hertfordshire as a place to live, apart perhaps from the hardness of the water that comes out of the water mains and untreated, can lead to significant problems from limescale build up around the home. And as well as limescale where you can see and experience it – in kettles, in shower heads, on shower screens and down loos, in washing machines and dishwashers, it can cause grief where you can’t see it – in the heating system in particular, where limescale build up in the boiler on the heat exchanger, and in the pipework and valves around the system, can reduce the efficiency of the heating system, see more gas or oil being used with consequential higher bills and of course the potential for higher maintenance bills when the limescale eventually causes blockages.

So if you’re looking to build a large, brand new home in leafy Hertfordshire, it makes sense to plan in something that gives you peace of mind, knowing that as a result of it, you won’t suffer from limescale build up – anywhere in the property.

Tucker French Plumbing & Heating Merchants are leading bathroom specialists in the Home Counties and have been supplying high quality bathroom and associated products since 2000. The Watford branch was asked by the owners of a brand new six bedroom property close by, to specify the fittings in the six bathrooms in their new home and as well as specifying the aesthetic components that made the bathrooms look fantastic, they also specified some additional components that would keep them looking that good. In particular, they specified a Tapworks water softener.

Andy Tucker says that there’s very little as depressing as seeing a stunning, brand new luxury bathroom – that a few weeks later is already looking the worse for wear as a result of the hard water that has not been addressed in the design stage: “We regularly specify water softeners because we have seen the damage that limescale can do – and in some parts of the Home Counties, the water is very hard indeed and damage can begin within weeks of the new installation getting used. In this project it was clear that we needed a reliable water softener that would address the limescale issues from the outset and the owners of the new property accepted our recommendation to install a Tapworks AD15 water softener unit that softens the water for the whole house apart from one tap in the kitchen which delivers untreated mains water as is recommended by regulations.”

The Tapworks water softener was installed by Stuart Wilson, senior engineer at Capital Heating in Watford: “We’re installing more and more softeners in this part of the world, for people who recognise that they have hard water and want to do something about it. For many, it’s the quality of life factor that is key – people like the feel of softened water, nicer feeling skin and shinier hair and some people anecdotally say that softened water has a beneficial effect on young children’s skin problems, such as eczema and psoriasis. For others they recognise quickly the reduction in cleaning that’s needed when you have one fitted and the lower bills for cleaning materials, shampoo and soap products – all of which can be cut in half when you have softened water. But for nearly all our customers that install a water softener, it’s the lower heating bills that they see that makes the real difference with bills at least 15% lower than pre-water softener installation, which all helps to see the water softener paying for itself within about two years – and there aren’t too many appliances you can say that about!”

The Tapworks AD15 is the largest domestic water softener in the Tapworks range, selected because of the size of the property – six bedrooms with additional out buildings – and has been installed in the boiler/plant room on the side of the property. Tapworks offers a range of softeners to meet the water softening needs of every size home from a small apartment where you can have a softener that fits neatly into a standard kitchen cabinet – to a huge home, and then has a range of softeners for commercial use as well – many laundries, hotels and the like have water softeners on a much larger scale, for the same reasons most people have them in their homes – to stop limescale damage and to reduce costs.

“We’re delighted that our unit was specified by Andy Tucker for this project,” says Brett Benson, Tapworks national sales manager. “It’s a very prestigious new build project in an equally prestigious part of the country and our AD15 will contribute towards keeping limescale at bay in the property and to reducing heating costs. It’s very rewarding in these tougher economic times to see sales of our softeners holding up well, and we’re sure this reflects the growing awareness of the savings that investment in a water softener can bring to the family budget.”

More information on Tapworks water softeners and hard water can be found at www.tapworks.co.uk. Or you can call for more information on 01494 480 621.

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Under the Government’s Access for All funded initiative, railways stations across the UK are being radically overhauled and Crittall Windows is playing a major role in supplying its Corporate W20 profiles for both refurbishment and new build programmes.

Originating from recommendations under the DDA Act 2005, the DFT published its Railways for All strategy in 2006, which stated that railway stations need to be brought into line, in terms of accessibility and Network Rail has embarked upon a comprehensive programme to make essential changes to its vast infrastructure.

Footbridges in particular are benefiting from the installation of Crittall’s Corporate W20 profiles, with future works planned to include screening for lift shafts : although the fenestration requirements vary from station to station, Crittall has been selected as preferred supplier for Network Rail and its local rail franchise operations.

“So far, we have worked on Witham, Ipswich, Loughborough, and Wendover stations” comments Ian Shepherd of Crittall. “Our designs for both refurbishment and replacement of existing glazed components revolve around the Corporate W20 hot dip m/f…galvanised, hot rolled steel sections. Frames are finished in durable, architectural grade polyester powder coating and coloured to suit the individual station or franchise’s corporate requirements.”

As he explains, there are a variety of styles specified, from fixed lights and raked windows to bottom and top hung casements and horizontal pivots. “For maximum safety, non projection hinge leaves are welded internally to the steel frame prior to galvanising, and assembled using a steel hinge during the manufacturing process,” he continues. Safety glazing is also included alongside varying thicknesses of single glazed laminates, clear or opaque, ranging from 8.8mm to 11.5mm.

The aim of the Government scheme is to allow all stations to be fully accessible, safe and secure, and the specification of the Crittall profiles is a testament to the strength and durability of the product range. “In addition,” concludes Ian, “our ability and flexibility to work with different architects, designers and contractors demonstrates the capacity of the company to adapt our expertise and product offering to individual requirements, whilst still maintaining the highest levels of quality and service.”

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Eaton’s Electrical Sector
The Energy Show 2011
RDS Dublin
30th and 31st March 2011
Stands H10 and J13

Eaton’s Electrical Sector is turning the spotlight on sustainability at the Energy Show 2011, with products and solutions that highlight environmental benefits and help businesses to improve efficiency and reduce operating costs.

As a concrete example of how recent developments are helping to enhance sustainability, Eaton is showing a dual-conversion uninterruptible power supply (UPS) from its new 9395 range, which has the lowest carbon footprint of any comparable product. The 9395 is especially suited to data centres and has now been recognised as meeting the stringent requirements associated with qualification for the UK government’s Enhanced Capital Allowances scheme.

Eaton is a global leader in the provision of innovative sustainable solutions for the electrical sector, and offers a wide range of supporting technologies that are ready for immediate deployment. This means that users – and the environment – can immediately start enjoying proven and substantial benefits.

Throughout the exhibition, experts from Eaton are available on the stand to discuss these technologies, which include variable speed drives, flexible sub-metering solutions, photovoltaic energy systems and power factor correction. The experts on the stand are also offering details of Eaton’s PowerChain Management for electrical distribution, which is an innovative holistic approach aimed at effective optimisation of the measurement and control of energy usage in electrical power systems at every level.

In addition to discussing the company’s products and services, Eaton is also offering advice related to the specific requirements of visitors to the exhibition and, thanks to its exceptionally wide product portfolio and its in-depth expertise in all facets of the electrical sector, it is uniquely well placed to ensure that this advice is accurate and dependable, and that it reflects the most recent developments and trends.

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The BBA is delighted to announce that it has been accredited by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) to offer installer approval under the Green Deal.

The BBA has been involved in much of the Green Deal developing framework including the Installer Accreditation Forum and the development of the installation standard PAS 2030: 2012. Therefore, we have an excellent understanding of the requirements that installers will need to meet to become approved under the Green Deal together with our long experience of running successful approved installer schemes in the construction industry.

We have also produced a green deal installer guide, accessed via our website www.bbacerts.co.uk/green-deal/installer-requirements, which explains the necessary steps that installers need to take to meet the requirements of the PAS.

Installers requiring an application form can e-mail greendeal@bba.star.co.uk or telephone 01923 665 300.

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Plant hire provides innovative way to save money

ELGA Process Water’s AQUAMOVE mobile water treatment solutions team has reduced maintenance downtime and increased revenue at Lakeside EFW, a major energy from waste plant at Colnbrook near Slough. The facility incinerates 410,000 tonnes of household and municipal waste per year and exports 34 MW of electricity to the National Grid.

Lakeside EFW uses waste fired boilers generating 45bar steam to drive a turbine. When a boiler is drained for its routine maintenance it has to be refilled with demineralised water, with a limited flow from the make-up water demineralisation plant, this would take about three days – days of lost generation. This is where the AQUAMOVE MOFI™ 35m3/h mobile plant comes in. Martin Rogers, EHS Manager at Lakeside EFW, explains: “Hiring in the MOFI™ mobile unit means that we can get the boiler up and running in less than a day, and the increased generation revenue more than covers the hire cost. An Aquamove engineer can be deployed, together with the necessary equipment, fittings and documentation within 2 hours of a call, and that’s reassuring”. It means that if we think we might have a problem with our demineralisation plant, we can always have a MOFITM on standby at short notice.” The MOFITM is self contained, and regeneration is carried out at ELGA Process Water’s regeneration station in Stoke-on-Trent, so there is no chemical or waste handling on site.

Lakeside EFW was impressed with the service from ELGA Process Water, a Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies company, and has placed a contract with their HYDREX® chemical treatment team to help optimise their steam cycle efficiency. The contract covers a twice-weekly visit from one of ELGA Process Water’s chemists to check the boiler water chemistry and to ensure that Legionella control in the domestic water systems meets current legislation.

Visit www.aquamove.co.uk for more information on AQUAMOVE and other water treatment solutions.

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Stelrad Radiators, the leading UK radiator manufacturer, has released the latest updated version of its popular ‘STARS Heatloss calculator’. It contains much more than you would expect and more than previous versions that have been used for years by dedicated heating system designers and heating engineers. The latest version offers an even simpler way to get sizing of radiators right, first time. And what’s even better, it’s free! Simply click on to the Stelrad web site at www.stelrad.com, click on ‘STARS’, register – and you’re away.

It’s essential that radiators used in a home are the right size for the room and for the building construction. This ensures that homeowners are not paying over the odds for a radiator that’s too big for the job and it means they won’t be paying higher energy bills than they should be, either.

To ensure that the maximum energy efficiency level is obtained from a heating system – and by definition, that emissions are lowered and energy costs are reduced for the householder – it’s vital that the radiators on that system are correctly sized, to reflect the size and shape of the room they’re in and to take into account the materials used in that room’s construction, in particular taking into consideration the levels of insulation that have been incorporated.

Too many homes are still suffering from oversized or in fewer cases, undersized radiators, meaning the rooms are too hot or too cold, or more likely, the radiators selected are never working to their true capacity. It’s far easier to pop your head around a door in a room and say ‘it’s about an ‘x’ sized radiator’, than it is to do the calculation. But to do a professional job, it clearly makes sense to use the right components and to make a few relatively quick calculations to ensure that what you recommend, delivers exactly what the customer needs in his or her home.

Stelrad Radiators – the UKs leading radiator manufacturer – has for a long time provided a special tool for installers and specifiers called STARS –the Stelrad Technical Advanced Radiator System. STARS has been used on PCs around the UK for several years to help people to work out just this – the right sized radiators to heat a home.

To update and improve the information available, Stelrad has released a new and improved version of STARS as a free download from www.stelrad.com.It will shortly be launching a new App version for installers and system designers to use on their smart phones.

Stelrad Product Manager Chris Harvey is the man behind the new version of STARS: “STARS is an online application built by Stelrad for anyone who needs to calculate heat loss for a room so they can choose the correct heating requirements and select the right components for a system.

“It enables instantaneous heat loss calculations using the unique room planner, where you can literally drag the walls of the room using your computer mouse, and the output figure is calculated in real time."

“With the STARS application being online, you can log in from anywhere if you have web access, and use your account immediately. As a major bonus, your account will remember all your previous projects, so you can easily duplicate similar projects to save time and hassle.”

STARS emphasis is on energy efficiency, increasing insulation levels and strict Building Regulations, all of which create additional difficulties when striving to achieve accurate Heatloss and U value calculations. The advanced domestic heatloss design service and BTU calculator incorporated in STARS are designed to help specify a room’s heatloss by incorporating all the CIBSE standard U values.

The new HeatLoss Calculator has been devised to improve the sizing of radiators with far greater accuracy, and this is where STARS provides the perfect solution. STARS now allows the user to draw a much wider range of room shapes and a visual check on room shape is achievable through an on screen floor plan.

The new U Value Calculator incorporates all THE CURRENT BUILDING REGULATION REQUIREMENTS ALONG WITH THE CIBSE standard U values. Unknown U values can be calculated accurately as STARS is able to cope with different materials, whilst other construction materials can be added when required.

It is an excellent tool for anyone needing to accurately size radiators for a heating system. It’s aimed at all Stelrad users, from one off self-builders and home renovators, to architects and specifiers, and housing developers.

It’s available as a download only – simply click on www.stelrad.com – click on STARS, and follow the instructions. For those who have used STARS before, it’s a very similar tool, just updated for the modern world in which we live. Details of the wide range of Stelrad products can be found at www.stelrad.com and copies of the recently launched ‘Radiator Book’ – an essential guide for all specifiers and installers -can be requested by calling on 0870 849 8058.

…..AND STELRAD GETS RIBA CPD ACCREDITATION

And further great news – Stelrad – has received accreditation by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) as a CPD seminar provider.

The initial CPD seminar on offer to architects is based on explaining the technical differences between serial and parallel feed radiators and highlights how new serial feed technology helps reduce fuel costs and a property’s carbon footprint. The seminar takes attendees through the basics of radiator technology, explaining the mix of radiant and convection heat generated by them and highlighting the basis on which current radiators operate, using parallel feed technology which sees both front and back panels of a radiator heating up at the same time.

The seminar progresses into the concept of serial feed technology that is used in the new Stelrad Radical radiator range, launched at Ecobuild in 2012. This highlights how the Radical radiator sees the front panel heat up first and quickest and through the inclusion of factory fitted thermostatic valve controls, the heated water is allowed into the back panel only when a pre-determined temperature has been reached.

The seminar explains how vitally, the serial feed radiator has a measurably positive effect on the boiler as well. Because the water leaving the radiator is cooler than from a traditional parallel feed radiator, a condensing boiler will actually condense more efficiently, ensuring the maximum energy efficiency from the boiler as well.

The overall measureable effects of using a serial feed radiator has been independently assessed by KIWA as a 10.5% energy saving which is impressive by any standards.

Stelrad’s Product Manager is Chris Harvey: “We’re delighted to have received accreditation from RIBA to become a provider of regular CPD seminars for its members. It’s an important step forward for us and we’re looking forward to meeting RIBA members around the country in the months ahead and to adding additional seminars to this first accredited one, to raise levels of understanding in the heating sector amongst architects up and down the country.”

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Klober Mini Uni-Line Slate Vents have been used to provide high level ventilation in the newly built Preston House in Glenrothes. The prestigious care home is part of the Kingdom Homes group and is a 60 bedroom nursing facility considered to be at the forefront of care in Fife. The building has a 40° pitch and long-span, slate roof with hips and dormers. The Mini Uni-Line vent is suitable for use with most small natural slates and provides an unobtrusive finish which neatly follows the profile of the roof.

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The forthcoming amendments to the 17th Edition Wiring Regulations, due to be published in July this year, contain several changes that affect both cable calculations and periodic inspections.

New installation methods, cable de-rating factors and minimum cable sizes come into force for various situations and the much heralded Electrical Installation Condition Report is a completely new certificate that will replace the Periodic Inspection Report in due course.

In response, AMTECH are already working on these changes with the help of major trade associations and industry bodies. This has led them to launch a comprehensive package of software, training and support at a heavily discounted price.

During March 2011, AMTECH’s unique Office Pro package, covering calculations and certification, is packaged with technical support to the end of the year and an invitation to a training seminar addressing the amendments to the 17th Edition, at no extra charge. Additional software upgrades to address 17th Edition amendments are also included in the package and will be supplied later in the year.

AMTECH Group Managing Director Mark Tindall explained: “This package is designed to provide all contractors and engineers working on small to medium sized projects with the software tools they need to help them comply with the regulations in their day-to-day work, whilst accommodating these significant changes as they become available later in the year. Getting to grips with the 17th Edition amendments as quickly as possible will be important for all electrical contractors and getting a head start will be a great advantage”.

AMTECH Office Pro is a complete electrical software solution. It includes the industry standard ProDesign and Protect for complete system cable calculations and coordination, SingleCablePro for quick single circuit calculations and FastTest for all electrical inspection and certification.

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Eaton’s new integrated PV Switch & Surge Unit, developed in conjunction with Solarcentury, the UK’s most experienced solar company, is specifically for use in residential photovoltaic (PV) installations and will be in the spotlight at the Solar Hub at Ecobuild 2011. The Solar Hub is the central focus for solar energy at this year’s exhibition and Eaton will also be showing consumer units configured for the easy connection of a solar array. Eaton and Solarcentury will also give a presentation in the Solar Hub’s on-stand seminar theatre on the theme of electrical components for PV systems.

For safety reasons and to aid maintenance, solar PV installations must always include a DC isolator for power coming from the solar panels and an AC isolator for power flowing from the inverter. Surge protection devices are also recommended for both the DC and AC circuits. In the past, these requirements have usually been met using devices mounted in separate enclosures; a cumbersome approach that unnecessarily extends the time taken to install and wire a system and adds additional cost.

Eaton’s new combined PV Switch & Surge Unit, developed in conjunction with Solarcentury, solves this problem by providing DC and AC isolators and surge protection devices pre-wired in a single compact enclosure. As a result, there is only one unit to install and the amount of wiring needed on site is minimised. Installation and wiring time is further reduced by the provision of ready-fitted terminals and glands for other connections, while safety is enhanced by the use of industry standard solar connectors for the wiring from the solar panels.

At the Solar Hub, Eaton is showing its new PV Switch & Surge Unit alongside a consumer unit from its popular Memera range, which incorporates a dedicated protection way for connection to the PV system. The PV Switch & Surge Unit has been designed with the same form factor as a consumer unit, allowing a neat and attractive installation to be readily achieved.

To complement the products on show, experts from Eaton and Solarcentury are making a series of informative presentations in the Solar Hub. These explain the importance of using appropriate switching and protection devices in solar PV installations to ensure both safety and convenience. In addition, the presentations include valuable guidance on the selection of suitable components.

Eaton’s experts will also be available at the Solar Hub throughout the exhibition to provide visitors with advice and guidance on devising solutions for specific applications, with the emphasis on combining safety, performance and convenience with value for money.

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The FAKRO FGH-V P2 Balcony Window is the low cost contemporary alternative to a dormer. In addition to its contemporary design, the window presents none of the attendant planning issues of a dormer while its light weight places far less stress on the roof structure. The upper sash opens in the same way as a top hung window while the lower one tilts forward to reveal built-in balustrades. Importantly, when closed these remain neatly hidden and are visible neither from the interior nor exterior.

The FGH-V has a supporting hinge mechanism which enables the upper sash to be left open at any point up to 45°. The operating handle is in the base of the sash for added user convenience.

Usable in roofs with a pitch between 35° – 55°, both the upper and lower sash are fitted with a laminated P2 safety glazing unit. The FGH-V P2 is also fitted with the V40P automatic air vent and the topSafe® system of hinge and lock reinforcement for added burglary protection.

Overall dimensions are 94cm x 255cm

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