Heating and cooling solu- tions provider Home Heating manager Cobus Roux tells Engineering News that the company is investigating the possibility of introducing pellet stoves and oil burners to expand customer choice while consolidating its existing range of heating and cooling systems.

He explains that a pellet stove burns compressed wood or biomass pellets to create a source of heat by slowly feeding fuel from a storage container to a burn-pot area, creating a constant flame that requires minimal adjustments by users.

The pellet burner stoves can be used to heat residential and industrial spaces.

Oil burners burn fuel oil that is then atomised into a fine spray, as a result of being forced under pressure through a nozzle, and then ignited by an electric spark. Air is then forced through by an electric fan to warm a room.

“The pellet stoves and the oil burners are more environment friendly than certain alternatives and their operating costs compare favourably with gas burners. These are the characteristics that sparked our interest in these products,” Roux notes.

Meanwhile, he points out that the company has added a cooling option to its water underfloor heating offering, which can provide up to 43 W/m² of radiant energy by circulating cold water through a concrete slab.

He says water underfloor heating has been in use in Europe for many years and Home Heating introduced the system to South Africa about nine years ago.

“We have improved our design substantially over the last few years by changing pipe diameters, lengths and flow rates. In February, we successfully commissioned a water underfloor heating system for a yoga studio, in Johannesburg. With a design room temperature of 42 °C, the system heats the studio using a heat pump and requires no supplementary heating sources,” enthuses Roux.
He highlights that the yoga studio project was a significant accomplishment, as the standard heating requirement for a room is between 19 °C and 23 °C.

“This year, we have also successfully installed a water under- floor heating system, with solar panels, at local crop protection solutions company Villa Crop Protection’s office building, which is about 3 000 m², in Kempton Park, Johannesburg,” adds Roux.

Last year, the company also installed water underfloor heating at Satyagraha House museum, where human rights activist Mohandas ‘Mahatma’ Gandhi once lived, in the north-eastern suburbs of Johannesburg, as well as at several retirement homes in Kyalami, Midrand.

However, Roux, notes that high capital outlays limit the sales of water underfloor heating systems.

Further, he says almost all the company’s heating and cooling products are imported, mainly from Denmark and Italy, while the bulk of its heat pumps are imported from China, as the country is the largest supplier of heat pumps and air-conditioning systems.

Roux explains that the prospect of bulk manufacturing all its systems locally to reduce costs is, therefore, unrealistic, as the majority of the components, such as pipes, tanks, manifolds and burners, comprise large quantities of raw material, which are already manufactured elsewhere in significantly large volumes for the European, North American and Asian markets. This means these heating and cooling systems will remain unaffordable to many people and companies, he adds.

“Electric underfloor heating, which we also supply and install, and air conditioners, are some of the biggest competitors of water underfloor heating because these are generally cheaper to install. “Depending on a system’s design, these prod- ucts can be as much as one eighth of the price of water underfloor heating,” he points out.

Home Heating’s baseline products are developed in Europe, but Roux highlights that the company has adapted all its products to suit South African building standards and building limitations.

“This is an ongoing process, as we strive to continuously improve efficiency and limit cost increases,” he concludes.