Heating

Giacomini, the underfloor heating and valve manufacturer, has entered the social housing market with the launch of a new heat interface unit for use with communal heating systems.

With no need for a gas supply, flues or hot water cylinders, the GE556 satellite offers, claims Giacomini, “all the benefits of a combi boiler without the combustion”.

Compact in size and simple to install, the GE556 controls and measures hot water and heating usage in apartments and multi-use dwellings supplied by a communal boiler system. It offers major benefits to everyone concerned, from the building contractor and installer to the tenants and landlords. Its use can also lead to significant energy cost savings.

One of the key advantages for the building contractor and the installer is simplicity of installation. There’s no need for a gas supply, flue or hot water cylinder and little or no servicing requirement once fitted. With no need for hot water storage, this neat and compact unit – it’s just 60cm wide, 73cm high and 21cm in depth – also saves valuable space compared to a conventional individual heating system.

There are also major advantages for tenants and landlords. The heat interface unit meets the need to control and monitor the heating and sanitary water consumption of tenants in flats, apartments or multi-use dwellings according to their individual needs.

For the tenant this means their energy bill is directly related to personal consumption. For the landlord, the key advantage is their ability to monitor remotely and then analyse the energy consumption of both individual users and the overall system through a special interface fitted within the unit. This uses the latest M-Bus communications technology standardised throughout Europe. The unit can also be supplied with an optional energy meter for the tenant to track his energy consumption and ultimately reduce his energy bills.

In the GE556 the usual heating source is replaced with a heat exchanger fed from a central communal hot water supply. A primary plate heat exchanger is used for the provision of heating and a secondary plate heat exchanger provides domestic hot water. These are configured as a sealed system in the unit, together with an expansion tank, safety valve and filling loop.

Accurate measurement of energy usage is obtained via compact, single jet turbine, volumetric meters which provide high precision and reliability in compliance with EN 1434. Well engineered, all components are installed in a durable zinc-plated casing, supplied with fittings for wall mounting. The unit can also be supplied fully cased for external mounting if required.