A modern detached 4 bedroom house in an urban setting heated by an ‘A’ rated gas condensing boiler with two 20 tube solar collectors. Mains pressure hot water is provided by a vented thermal store. The solar contributes to both domestic hot water and to space heating.
Dual thermostats are used to control the gas boiler helping to maximise efficiency by increasing the time between boiler cycles. Also the return temperature to the boiler is regulated by a thermostatic mixing valve to ensure that the boiler operates in condensing mode for enhanced efficiency.
The system includes limescale protection and a thermostatic mixing valve to deliver hot water to taps. This allows temperatures in the thermal store to be set higher than would normally be the case, maximising solar storage.
Excess heat generated during periods of low consumption, e.g. summer holidays, is dissipated by the solar controller which activates a pump to take heat away from the thermal store.
