Hello from AndyT

[AndyT]

22 hours ago, Dudda said:

Welcome Andy. I made contact with you a few months back during detailed design on a house I'm designing. All going to plan I should have my first of many Sunamps in about 3-4 months.

The building regulations here in Ireland require you to have renewable energy with most opting for PV. Ireland doesn't have any FIT so a lot of generated energy is wasted from the owners perspective during the day. Sunamp is a simple way to utilise more generated energy and I think the market here is therefore very large but nobody has heard of Sunamp.

 

Hi Dudda,

Thanks for the reply. I will mention this to our new sales director Trevor Cross, I know he plans to introduce product through distribution soon.

Watch this space.

[le-cerveau]

Hi @AndyT, we are fitting a SunAmp Stack, next month, with to different temperature cells PCM34 and PCM58.  I have been told that it will be equipped with the new dual port cells.  ANy insight would be appreciated.

 

PM me if it is not for public discussion yet.

[Onoff]

15 minutes ago, le-cerveau said:

Hi @AndyT, we are fitting a SunAmp Stack, next month, with to different temperature cells PCM34 and PCM58.  I have been told that it will be equipped with the new dual port cells.  ANy insight would be appreciated.

 

PM me if it is not for public discussion yet.

 

Cat/bag?

[Nickfromwales]

17 minutes ago, Onoff said:

 

Cat/bag?

Not quite Sherlock ?

 

[mike2016]

Hi Andy,

 

I'm hoping to use 1-2 SumAmps in my build next year. I know you can charge them with excess PV / off peak. I read you can also charge them an ASHP? I wondered what temp would be required from the ASHP and how that would affect it's COP / vs using off peak electricity in the winter when there's little PV to be had....? Thanks!

[TerryE]

On 15/01/2018 at 10:21, mike2016 said:

I read you can also charge them an ASHP?

 

No you can't.  The phase change cells are only heated by electricity and have internal plate heat exchangers to exchange heat with the potable water  flowing through the device.  so if the PCM is between 60-65 °C then the input water at 10°C, is heated to a similar temperature but this is then mixed down using an internal TMV to the preset temperature between 40-55°C, say.  

 

We have two SunAmp in parallel heated solely by E7 low tariff supply.   We preheat our direct mains for HW though a PHE exchanging heat from the slab, which raises the temp at the riser from ~8°C to 20°C.  This is then heated to ~56°C by the SunAmps and then blended down with more cold at 20°C to 46°C in our Manifold TRV.  Hence the SunAmps raise our DHW by roughly 26°C.

 

Jeremy has a single SunAmp which he feeds via a PHE from a buffer tank which is preheated to ~35°C using his ASHP.  The SunAmp again raises this to ~56°C and this is then blended down to his set point probably around the same  46°C but in his case this is with borehole water at ~10°C.  Do the maths to work out the overall heat delta per litre delivered, but this is a lot better than mine but maybe 2× rather than 2.5 × because of his mix down using 10°C water.   But that's why he can get away with one SunAmp whilst I need 2.

 

But the take-home message is that using a preheat buffer tank heated by the ASHP can effectively double the SunAmp capacity but you still need to heat them with electricity. 

[le-cerveau]

@mike2016, you are talking about 2 different products, The normal SunAmp is charged by electricity (however produced), to charge by hot water (ASHP) you need a SunAmp Stack, which can't be directly charged by electricity.  The stack is a variable size beast depending on your requirements and you could charge by direct electricity (wills type heater).  To get the best out of an ASHP you need to keep the temp down to around 40C, I am doing this by having 2 different cells in my Stack, 6 cells with PCM34 and 6 standard cells PCM58.  The PCM34 cells will be charged by my ASHP to around 40C, this will be utilised for UFH and DHW pre-heat, the PCM58 cells will be charged by a gas boiler, but you could use an ASHP in DHW mode (lower efficiency).  Mine is a bespoke setup.

[Nickfromwales]

On 15/01/2018 at 11:04, le-cerveau said:

@mike2016, you are talking about 2 different products, The normal SunAmp is charged by electricity (however produced), to charge by hot water (ASHP) you need a SunAmp Stack, which can't be directly charged by electricity.  The stack is a variable size beast depending on your requirements and you could charge by direct electricity (wills type heater).  To get the best out of an ASHP you need to keep the temp down to around 40C, I am doing this by having 2 different cells in my Stack, 6 cells with PCM34 and 6 standard cells PCM58.  The PCM34 cells will be charged by my ASHP to around 40C, this will be utilised for UFH and DHW pre-heat, the PCM58 cells will be charged by a gas boiler, but you could use an ASHP in DHW mode (lower efficiency).  Mine is a bespoke setup.

What total kw rating have you achieved with this combination?

 

I am currently specifying Sunamps for 2 customers, and this post....

...is indeed the one for any prospective Sunamp clients to wait for the conclusion of 

 

I would like to take this opportunity to thank @AndyT for his boundless patience and enthusiasm. I've picked away endlessly at his brains over the telephone, to a point that he admitted defeat and offered to come to Swansea Tuesday coming to meet me face to face, over sausage and mash and a shandy, to bring me up to speed on all things Sunamp. I am very happy with the technical support and customer care this company has demonstrated so far.....really a breath of fresh air. 

 

[le-cerveau]

1 hour ago, Nickfromwales said:

What total kw rating have you achieved with this combination?

I don't have specifics yet, should be installed 3 weeks time so will have more details then.

[Nickfromwales]

Just now, le-cerveau said:

I don't have specifics yet, should be installed 3 weeks time so will have more details then.

That would be appreciated. Thanks.