Thermal Store

Solar Conect Thermal Store

THERMAL STORES ARE SUPPLIED BY OUR DISTRIBUTORS – LYNX SOLAR, GIVING US A VERY EFFICIENT SOLAR HEATING AND HOT WATER SYSTEM

Thermal stores are at the heart of Solar Conect underfloor heating and hot water systems

Powered by thermal solar energy with electrical or boiler back up, a thermal store becomes the heat store for the energy of your home.

A thermal store is a low pressure tank of water, which can be heated in various ways. The principal behind the system is to contain this energy by maintaining the required temperature within the thermal store. The energy costs are much lower by maintaining heat than having to consistently heat water from cold.

The essence of a thermal store is that it allows you to heat water by several different means integrating several fuel sources. The main energy input that Lynx Solar use is the evacuated tube solar collector. The thermal store can be backed up by an air-source heat pump, a wood burner or a conventional boiler. Immersion heaters are always included as standard when the thermal store is commissioned.

Lynx Solar/Powertech Thermal Stores are made for the specific requirements of each building

Thermal stores are designed to meet the individual needs of energy required. The size of the thermal store is made to the requirements of heating and the demand of hot water for each individual household or building. Sizes range from 185 litres to 900 litres. The thermal store comes with an external heat exchanger to meet the demand of mains hot water required, this gives a very good alternative to other commercial unvented sealed systems.

Key Features of a Lynx Solar/Powertech Thermal Store

• Thermal Stores are low pressure, giving long life and easy maintenance. They can be heated by renewable energy applications and conventional methods
• Extra connections are always built into the Thermal Store on manufacture, giving versatility so that a boiler or wood burning stove can be connected if required. The customer then has an alternative for backing up the system when the solar is not available due to weather conditions or at night to maintain temperature
• Coils can be added at manufacture for any other pressurized heat source
• Highly efficient stainless steel plate heat exchanger with combined mixer valve for providing domestic hot water at mains pressure at a temperature required, thus saving energy
• Open vented system for safety and minimum servicing
• Twin immersion heaters are included as backup
• Ideal for underfloor heating

Key Benefits of a Lynx Solar/Powertech Thermal Store

• Can eliminate/reduce the need for gas/oil boiler
• Mains pressure hot water on demand
• Minimal scale or corrosion in thermal store
• Minimum servicing
• Expected 20+ years life
• Easy to install and service as all pumps, valves etc are external
• Works all over the world

The Working Principals of a Lynx Solar/Powertech Thermal Store System

A thermal store is a low pressure tank made of quality copper and insulated to retain the heat stored. The size is calculated for the amount of energy needed. All pumps and valves are of high quality and are designed for heating systems.

Evacuated tube collectors are used because of their efficiency to heat water quickly. The amount of tubes used for the collector is calculated in relation to the amount of energy needed for the size of the individual Thermal Store. Lynx Solar use evacuated tube collectors because of their efficiency, they take up less square meters than flat plate collectors and the evacuated tube will still store heat even after the sun has gone.

Once the store and under-floor pipe work are filled with water the only top-up needed is for evaporation. The Thermal Store then becomes a heat source; we do not take water from it for any of the services. This method gives the thermal store a long life as there is no build-up of scale.

A controller is used to run the solar. This controller detects through sensors the temperature at the collector and the temperature in the store, switching the pump on and off when the heat is available. The store is made to withstand temperatures of up to 95 ºC and the collector will stand temperatures of over 250 ºC, in case there is a pump or power failure that causes stagnation.

The controller also has a frost setting for cold nights and will start the pump, taking heat back from the store though the collector to prevent the water freezing. The whole principal behind this is to keep the store up to temperature so that hot water and heating are always available.

This is where the back up comes in and immersion heaters are always included as standard when the thermal store is commissioned. As stated in the Key Features, extra connections are always built into the Thermal Store on manufacture. This gives versatility so that a boiler or wood burning stove can be connected if required, giving the customer an alternative for backing up the system when the solar is not available due to weather conditions or at night to maintain temperature.

There is a header tank above the store which allows more water into the store when needed and also allows expansion of hot water when the Thermal Store is up to temperature. On the side of the Thermal Store is connected the heat exchanger, which has a thermostatic valve to control the temperature at around 50 degrees thus preventing scalding and making safe the hot water to the services. When the hot tap is turned on it activates a flow switch and pump, this circulates hot water from the store through the heat exchanger, heating the cold mains supply as it passes through, thus providing mains pressure hot water for the services of the property.

On the other side of the thermal store are the flow and return pipes with a mixer valve for the underfloor heating system. This mixer valve will allow the return flow to recirculate if up to temperature, thus saving energy from the Thermal Store. The flow and return pipes from the Thermal Store are operated by a variable-speed pump which supplies hot water to a manifold (or manifolds) on demand and this manifold or manifolds in turn supply the different zones of the system. Each zone on the manifold is controlled by an actuator, which is connected to the thermostat of each room in the building. The thermostat is set to the temperature required so that if any individual zone calls for heat, the actuator turns on the supply from the manifold, which then maintains the temperature required. Adjustments can also be made on the flow and return to balance the system.

Underfloor heating runs at a low temperature and the different zones are set to give the required temperature in each room. As the building cools after the summer and the temperature inside the house falls, the underfloor zones will start to operate at the temperature that has been set for the individual rooms. With a well-insulated house the energy needed to maintain the required temperature in each zone is not that high and as long as the thermal store is kept up to temperature with the back-up, there will always be heating and hot water.

Product Insight

• Thermal store: copper or stainless steel
• External pumps: Grunfos
• Mixer valves: Taconova
• Underfloor manifolds: Taconova
• Room thermostats and actuators: Taconova
• Hot water Heat Exchanger: stainless steel
• Underfloor pipe: 5-layer Rifeng PEX pipe

Guarantees

• Evacuated tube collectors: 10 years
• Thermal Stores: 10 years
• Underfloor pipe: 50 years