Heating is responsible for 60% of energy consumption in the average British home and, as such, is a prime target for carbon emission reduction and cost saving devices. Many solutions exist on the market, but there are few that are simple and cost effective to implement. Luton based Chalmor, an energy saving heating and lighting supplier, is developing a new, simple heat saving device that it believes could prove to be a boon to the householder and the environment.
The company claims that the device will be low cost and simple to install, and could reduce the UK's CO2 emissions by as much as 500,000 tonnes a year and save the average UK household up to 25% off the cost of its heating bill. Chalmor's device is a programmable electronic Thermostatic Radiator Valve (eTRV) DIY kit, which is retrofitted to a radiator and regulates domestic central heating performance.
The concept for the new valve is the brainchild of Steven Henry, managing director and his team at Chalmor, who saw the potential of refining existing commercial eTRV technology to make it affordable and relevant to a broad domestic audience.
The valve works in a similar way to climate control systems found in many cars and can be programmed to switch individual radiators on and off to a required temperature at different times of the day. Henry claims the valve can be installed by anyone familiar with basic DIY and that it will deliver up to four times the energy savings of conventional mechanical valves.
Chalmor has already won a DTI award for its energy saving work and in the future the company hopes to integrate intelligent building technology into its energy saving systems. For example, Henry foresees the potential to link motion detection systems to its new valves, so that buildings will detect the presence of people and adjust the heating automatically. The company also hopes to grow its innovative 'Pay as you Save' scheme, where energy savings fund the cost of new installations.