Category Archives: Energy

Condair expands dehumidifier range

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Humidity control specialist, Condair, has extended its dehumidifier range to include more desiccant models, wall and ceiling-mounted systems, units that control temperature as well as humidity, and swimming pool units.

Tim Scott, head of sales at Condair plc, comments, “Having successfully launched Condair dehumidifiers to the UK market just a few years ago, it is very exciting to be able to further strengthen our portfolio of dehumidification systems. Condair now boasts one of the most extensive ranges of dehumidifiers available from a single supplier, as well as offering fully customised solutions for unusual projects or extreme control. Whatever application, capacity or humidity level is needed, Condair has the dehumidifier to perfectly meet the requirement.”

The new Condair DA desiccant dehumidifier range now includes capacities from 0.6 to 182 litres per hour (@20°C/60%RH) from its standard models with customized units being able to meet any larger drying requirement. Features include the ability to operate down to -30°C and consistently maintain an air humidity as low 1%RH. Units can incorporate on-board touch screen controllers and BMS connectivity, with Modbus as standard. AC or EC fans are available and are positioned in a push configuration prior to the desiccant rotor on the regeneration airflow. This avoids contact between the fan and the hot humid exhaust air, prolonging the life of the fan.

Condair’s new wall-mounted condensing dehumidifier range offers attractive in-room units with a sleek, minimalistic design. Alternatively, wall-mounted systems can be remotely located in a room adjacent to the area being dehumidified. Humid air is circulated to the dehumidifier and dry air fed back to the room via ducting through the wall. New ceiling-mounted models enable installers to either integrate the unit in a suspended ceiling system or simply fix it overhead to avoid taking up floor space. All of these new fixed condensing systems are available in standard capacities from 49 to 190 L/D (@30°C/80%RH).

For applications that need very tight control over temperature as well as humidity, the Condair DC-N dehumidifier will deliver dry process air as well as cooling to an area or duct. It incorporates a remotely located compressor unit to dissipate heat generated during the dehumidification process, similar to a split air conditioning system. Dehumidifying capacities range from 263 to 940 L/D (@30°C/80%RH) and cooling outputs from 13 to 43kW.

To complete Condair’s range of dehumidifiers, swimming pool models are now available that incorporate a range of features specifically for pool areas. Heat exchangers recover thermal energy from the supply air and the dehumidification process, which can either be introduced to the dry air being returned to the pool area or used to heat the pool water. Condair’s swimming pool dehumidification systems can also introduce outside fresh air to help improve the internal atmosphere. Units are offered in free-standing, wall-mounted, ceiling mounted, in-room or in-duct and in capacities up to 940L/D (@30°C/80%RH).

The Condair Group is the world’s leading specialist in humidity control and evaporative cooling, with energy efficient, hygienic and innovative technologies for commercial, industrial and heritage applications. Condair offers system design, manufacture, supply, installation, commissioning, maintenance and spares. More information is available on the company’s website at www.condair.co.uk.

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JS Air Curtains warm welcome at the National Army Museum

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JS Air Curtains has supplied two Zen air curtains for the recently refurbished National Army Museum in Chelsea, London, to provide a warm welcome to visitors in its reception foyer and gift shop.

The air curtains seal the entrances while the doors are open with an invisible barrier of air, preventing cold air entering in the winter and cool air escaping in the summer. The Zen air curtain was selected to architecturally fit in with the design of the interior and, in the case of the foyer, match the colour of the doorway.

Mike O’Connor, Deputy Director at the National Army Museum said ‘‘The air curtains blend in perfectly, due to matching the RAL colour of the entrance, and are helping to maintain a very comfortable internal temperature for visitors and staff to the museum. They have been running very well so far with no operational issues’’.

The Zen air curtain is offered with front and rear panels that can be made in a variety of materials and colours, and can even incorporate signs and elements such as clocks, lighting or digital displays. This makes the model a very popular choice for architects and designers. At the National Army Museum, the Zen above the main entrance was supplied in a matching RAL colour while the shop had the standard finish.

The units are available in a choice of sizes from 1.0m to 2.5m in 0.5m increments and can be mounted horizontally above the doorway or vertically to the side, with the possibility of joining two or more units together to cover wide entrances. Heating can be via electric or LPHW, as was the case at the National Army Museum, or it can be supplied without heating as an air only model. Low noise, double inlet centrifugal fans with external rotor motors can provide up to 2,7000m³/h of airflow per metre of air curtain (as tested to Amca 220-05) making the Zen ideal for doorways up to 4.2m high.

A manual controller is included as standard alongside 7m of telephonic cable with RJ45 (Plug & Play) connectors and a hand-held infra-red remote. The National Army Museum selected an optional advanced ‘‘Clever’’ controller to regulate the air curtains as it includes a temperature sensor that automatically adapts to the entrance conditions.

The National Army Museum is the leading authority on the British Army and its impact on society past and present. It displays thousands of pieces across five themed galleries with a special temporary exhibition gallery, event space, a café and children’s area, Play Base.

JS Air Curtains, the UK’s leading air curtain specialist, supply an extensive range of air curtains for all commercial and industrial applications. You can find out more by visiting the company’s website at www.jsaircurtains.com.

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Crittall launch innovative thermally broken steel window

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Crittall, the originator of the steel window and the sector’s leading manufacturer, has launched T60 – a highly innovative thermally broken steel window and door system.

T60’s slim profiles replicate original Crittall steel windows, combining traditional aesthetics with 21st Century levels of performance. T60 features an advanced high density polyurethane isolator as a thermal barrier. This, together with housing high performance double or triple glazing up to 37mm wide, ensures the system surpasses the requirements of current regulations while at the same time providing contemporary levels of comfort, particularly in harsher weather conditions where traditional steel windows may not have previously been sufficient. Market-leading weathertightness performance has been tested to European and ASTM Standards.

As with all Crittall products, T60 is corrosion protected and finished with Duralife, an architectural grade polyester powder coating. Its slim sightlines maximize the benefit of natural daylight thereby reducing reliance on artificial lighting. Each frame is fully welded enhancing strength and durability. The inherent strength of steel gives peace of mind in respect of robustness and security, boosted by optional multi-locking. A wide range of opening configurations are available.

Traditional aesthetics ensure T60 can be specified with confidence for Listed buildings or properties in Conservation areas.

The clean, slender design is ideally suited both to restoration work and new build projects and T60 is expected to be specified for a full range of market sectors, including offices, health, education and hotels.

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Condair achieves workplace wellbeing charter

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Condair plc has been accredited by the Workplace Wellbeing Charter, the national accreditation standard that recognises an organisation’s commitment to improving the lives of those who work there.  Condair achieved the standard through initiatives such as the introduction of free staff health MOTs, subsidizing gym subscriptions, investing in sit-stand desks and appointing trained mental health first aiders.

Condair plc, the UK’s leading humidification specialist, employs 75 people, located either at its headquarters in West Sussex, or remotely situated around the UK, across its nationwide sales and service teams.

Tim Scott, head of sales at Condair plc, comments, “Employees who are happy and healthy are more engaged and productive in the workplace. We are very proud to have obtained this important accreditation, as it objectively demonstrates our commitment to continually improving the happiness, health and wellbeing of our staff.

“Condair has been at the forefront of the UK’s humidity control for 37 years. The fact that over half our staff have been with us for at least 10 years, and many for much longer, is testament to the importance we place on employee wellbeing and happiness. This doesn’t just make our day-to-day working lives more enjoyable but has a direct impact on the business’ profits. It helps us retain talented individuals, builds the most experienced workforce in the marketplace and ensures we deliver the best possible service to our customers.”

As part of the Workplace Wellbeing Charter accreditation, Condair was independently reviewed by a consultant, against a set of eight topic areas. These topics ranged from leadership and absence management to physical activity and healthy eating. The objective is to assess the company’s level of commitment to creating a culture that values health and wellbeing.

Tim Scott continues, “As an organisation, we have always been proactive about creating a happy workplace, with regular social events playing an important part in building a cooperative and friendly team atmosphere. We also encourage staff to manage their own health through subsidizing gym subscriptions, promoting tax-free bike-to-work schemes, offering sit/stand desks, company bikes for staff use, free bi-annual health MOTs and offering medical cash plans, which allow staff access to cheaper healthcare services for things like dental, optometry or podiatry.

“Alongside these investments, we also provide services to employees such as workshops on stress management, healthy eating and mindfulness, give staff support to stop smoking and allow time-shifting in working hours. Simply starting and finishing a working day at a slightly different time can improve a person’s work life balance and alleviate stress.

“Mental health has also been a focus for us in recent years. As well as internally promoting government initiatives like Mental Health Awareness Week, we have appointed and trained two mental health first aiders. These individuals are able to offer direct and confidential support to people who need it. As well as this one-to-one support, employees also have access to a confidential helpline, with experts who can provide advice on a range of topics from bereavement and debt to health and relationships.” Tim concludes.

The Condair Group is the world’s leading specialist in humidification and evaporative cooling, with energy efficient, hygienic and innovative technologies for commercial, industrial and heritage applications. Condair is represented in the UK by Condair plc, which offers system design, manufacture, supply, installation, commissioning, maintenance and spares.

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CONDAIR AT DATA CENTRE WORLD 2019

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Condair is appearing at the forthcoming Data Centre World exhibition on stand D921, at the Excel Centre in London from 12th to 13th March. The company will be displaying the latest in adiabatic and steam humidifier technology, which provides in-duct evaporative cooling and humidification to data centres.

Condair has extensive experience in working with data centre designers and air handling unit manufacturers that need to incorporate evaporative coolers or humidifiers into their systems. Previous data centre projects have involved clients such as Facebook, Microsoft, Digital Realty, Hewlett Packard, Amazon and eBay.

Condair’s experts will be on-hand at Data Centre World to give advice on how the latest humidifier technology can reduce data centre operating costs through improved energy consumption and reduced maintenance requirements.

Products on display include the Condair ME evaporative humidifier that offers 0.68kW of adiabatic cooling to an air handling system for every 1kg of moisture evaporated into the air stream. As the humidifier can provide up to 1,440kg/hr of humidity while operating on less than 1kW, it presents significant benefits to data centres using free air cooling systems. The technology can be employed to deliver direct or indirect evaporative cooling to facilities in warmer climates or add massive amounts of low energy humidification to data centres using cold, dry outside air in cold climates.

Alongside its market-leading in-duct evaporative system, Condair will have the Condair RS resistive steam humidifier on its stand. The Condair RS offers steam humidification to data centres without the need to frequently replace boiling cylinders, as is the case with many on-board humidification systems supplied with CRAC units. The humidifier has a scale management system that allows lime scale that builds up in the boiling chamber to fall into a removable tank at the base of the unit. Routine scale removal can be carried out by in-house maintenance staff in minutes, saving costs on consumables and maintenance time.

The Condair Group is the world’s leading specialist in humidification and evaporative cooling, with energy efficient, hygienic and innovative technologies for commercial, industrial and heritage applications. Condair is represented in the UK by Condair plc, which offers system design, manufacture, supply, installation, commissioning, maintenance and spares.

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TONY FLEMING APPOINTED CONDAIR’s NEW HEAD OF SALES CLUSTER NORTHERN EUROPE

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Humidification specialist, Condair, has appointed Tony Fleming as the Head of Sales Cluster Northern Europe. Tony takes on responsibility for the operations of Condair’s two sales and manufacturing facilities based in the UK and Denmark, as well as the Condair sales offices in Ireland and Sweden.
Tony Fleming

Tony Fleming comments, “I am delighted to take on this new role of developing Condair’s operations in the key markets of the UK, Ireland and Scandinavia. The Condair Group has made significant investment in these regions as part of its recent global expansion and has seen good growth in all fields of humidification, evaporative cooling and dehumidification.”

Tony’s appointment follows a restructuring of Condair’s regional operations and the association of the UK and Ireland with Scandinavia as “Sales Cluster Northern Europe”. Tony’s previous position at Condair was Technical & Operations Director at Condair plc, for which he was and continues to be based in the Condair office in West Sussex, UK. Alongside his role at Condair, Tony also serves as a Non-Executive Director on the board of BSRIA.

All positions within Condair’s regional operations remain unchanged, including Tim Scott remaining as Sales Director for Condair in the UK and Ireland.

The Condair Group is the world’s leading specialist in humidity control and evaporative cooling, with energy efficient, hygienic and innovative technologies for commercial, industrial and heritage applications.

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Low surface temperature radiator series sees new additions

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Low surface temperature radiators – known as LSTs – are increasingly being specified for buildings used by vulnerable people where safe heat is required – for either the young or the elderly. The leading supplier of LST radiators in the UK is Stelrad and the company has recently released two new additions to its already extensive range by adding an LST Standard Deco and LST iPlus Deco design. They both feature its popular Deco horizontal lined fascia to the casings.

LSTs are clearly the safe solution in hospitals, care and nursing homes, doctors and dentists’ surgeries and in universities, colleges, schools and nurseries.

The addition of the Deco fascias is a response to demand from customers to have a ‘designer look’ version of these popular but functional radiators and Stelrad has been happy to respond to this.

LSTs comply with the strict requirements of the NHS Guidance Note for ‘Safe hot water and surface temperature’ and can be installed in commercial and public buildings with total public safety assured. The surface temperature of these LSTs will never exceed 43°C.

For more details, head for www.stelrad.com.

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Take a Closer Look at Small Circulators

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It’s thought that there are still many millions of old, uncontrolled small circulators operating in heating systems across the UK, and they are using far more energy than they need to.

Especially now that leading pump manufacturer Wilo now offers the new generation of the Wilo-Yonos PICO series small circulators to the UK market. There’s a range of new features that have been added to this popular circulator, targeted primarily at residential homes and properties, for both heating systems and air conditioning equipment.

With this new version, Wilo has succeeded in not only upgrading one of the most established products in the market, but also to an extent, it has been able to reinvent it thanks to new functions built in to it and its ease of use.

Together with these new functions, the compactness of Wilo-Yonos PICO has been dramatically improved to make it even easier to install and make maintenance far easier for the installer.

For more information on the Yonos PICO and the other small pumps in the energy efficient Wilo family of circulators, head for www.wilo.co.uk.

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Condair Humidifiers At The National Army Museum

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Condair has recently supplied and installed three Condair RS resistive steam humidifiers to maintain the humidity around the exhibits and archives at the National Army Museum in Chelsea, London.

Optimum environmental conditions are required to ensure the perfect preservation of military artefacts that are made of a wide range of materials, some of which date back to the English Civil War.

Mike O’Connor, Deputy Director at the National Army Museum, commented, “Precise climate control in our galleries and stored collections, across both temperature and humidity, plays an important role in preserving the nation’s military heritage. Our collections include an array of exhibits, from the cloak Wellington wore at Waterloo and Lawrence of Arabia’s dagger to modern day grenade launchers and drones. Metals, textiles, wooden objects and paintings can all be affected by high or low humidity, so a stable environment ensures longevity and avoids costly restoration work.”

The three Condair humidification systems were installed in weatherproof enclosures on the roof of the museum as part of its recent £24M refurbishment project. As well as resisting the London weather, the Condair enclosures incorporate a heater and fan unit to ensure the internal conditions remain within the humidifier’s recommended operating range. So, just as the humidifiers help the museum preserve its exhibits, likewise the enclosures do the same job for the humidifiers.

The Condair RS resistive steam humidifier is the ideal choice for heritage applications due to its responsive control and innovative scale management system. It can operate on mains water, as it is at the National Army Museum, and provide ±3%RH control, or on RO water and offer a close ±1%RH control. A humidifier that gives rapid response and close humidity control is important for museums that can be empty one minute and full of tourists in from the rain the next.

A patented scale management system on the Condair RS allows in-house maintenance teams to undertake routine scale removal, safely and quickly, without even needing to open the humidifier’s main cabinet. A scale collector tank is located under the boiling chamber, into which scale falls during operation. Scale removal is a simple process of draining the unit with the push of a button, disconnecting the cooled collector tank and emptying it.

The National Army Museum is the leading authority on the British Army and its impact on society past and present. It displays thousands of pieces across five themed galleries with a special temporary exhibition gallery, event space, a café and children’s area, Play Base. Admission is free to the permanent galleries and the Museum is open to the public between 10am and 5.30pm, daily.

The Condair Group is the world’s leading specialist in humidity control and evaporative cooling, with energy efficient, hygienic and innovative technologies for commercial, industrial and heritage applications. Condair is represented in the UK by Condair plc, which offers system design, manufacture, supply, installation, commissioning, maintenance and spares. You can find out more by visiting the company’s website at www.condair.co.uk.

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New Outdoor Steam Humidifiers from Condair

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Leading humidification specialist, Condair, has extended its range of electric steam humidifiers to include new IP55 rated models suitable for outdoor installation. The robust enclosures on the Condair RS resistive steam and Condair EL electrode boiler steam humidifiers enable the units to be located on rooftops and exposed to the elements.

Rather than simply installing the standard humidifiers inside a protective housing on a rooftop, the new outdoor humidifiers from Condair have purpose-built IP55-rated casings. This means they take up much less room on a rooftop and are easier to install. Condair’s new outdoor humidifiers are the most compact in the industry with the smallest footprint and incorporate lifting handles to make on-site transportation easier.

The enclosures incorporate a thermostat-controlled heater and fan unit to maintain the internal temperature at an optimum level with outside ambient conditions ranging from -20° to 40°C. An anti-freeze valve will ensure the humidifier completely drains should the unit experience temperatures of less than 6°C during periods of in-operation.

The new Condair outdoor humidifiers can be wall-mounted, allowing them to be attached to an AHU, or free-standing. Lockable doors are removable for easy access and optional internal lighting improves visibility for servicing and maintenance.

Alongside these new enhanced “outdoor” features, the Condair RS and Condair EL steam humidifiers inside the robust outer casing still offer all the innovative features that make these resistive and electrode humidifiers market-leaders. The latest touch-screen control panel gives intuitive control over operation and reporting, and a USB connection allows software to be updated and historic operational information downloaded into Excel.

The Condair RS resistive steam humidifier has an innovative scale-management system that sees limescale detach from the heating elements and fall into a scale-collector tank. This can be occasionally emptied to remove scale from the system without the need for major maintenance downtime. The Condair EL electrode boiler humidifier has advanced water quality management that precisely maintains the mineral content of the boiling cylinder. This avoids the need for excessive flushing of hot water to drain and minimises limescale formation.

The Condair Group is the world’s leading specialist in humidification and evaporative cooling, with energy efficient, hygienic and innovative technologies for commercial, industrial and heritage applications. Condair is represented in the UK by Condair plc, which offers system design, manufacture, supply, installation, commissioning, maintenance and spares. You can find out more by visiting the company’s website at www.condair.co.uk.

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