Andrews Water Heaters, part of Baxi Commercial Division, has supplied a solar water heating system for the new, award-winning Van Hage garden and leisure retail store at Peterborough Garden Park, Peterborough. Selected by consulting engineers Patrick Mills Associates, the SOLARflo system preheats water serving two Andrews ECOflo water heaters which supply domestic hot water to the whole building.  A spokesman commented, “We had originally selected Andrews direct gas fired water heaters and the choice of Andrews to provide the solar panels was a natural choice in order to coordinate the installation. The system is ideal for this application due to the high demand for hot water, with a large kitchen serving the catering outlets as well as wash hand basins in the public toilets and we anticipate that the solar hot water installation will provide approximately 50% of the annual hot water demand.“

The five solar collectors, which provide 90.8% transmission efficiency, 95% absorption efficiency and a low emission loss of only 5%, are mounted on the pitched roof and positioned to optimise  their  effectiveness.  Preheated water is transferred to the 700 litre stainless steel unvented cylinder which in turn supplies the two ECOflo 230/700 water heaters, thereby considerably reducing consumption of natural gas. These high efficiency, condensing storage water heaters each have a capacity of 230 litres, an output of 41kW and a recovery rate of 700 litres per hour through 50oC. The units were supplied with unvented systems kits, vertical flue kits and BMS relay kits via volt free contacts. The solar water heating system was installed by Woodward & Co. (Environmental) Ltd.

In addition to the glazed flat plate solar collectors and non-corrosive, stainless steel solar cylinder the complete Solarflo package also includes solar controls, pump station, expansion vessels, first fill of heat transfer fluid and collector mounting accessories. SOLARflo glazed flat plate collectors are Solar Key Mark Approved and, in common with the stainless steel unvented cylinders and evacuated tubes in the Andrews range, carry a 10 year guarantee.

ECOflo water heaters are part of Andrews’ latest range of condensing storage water heaters, available in eight models with capacities of 230 or 380 litres, heat outputs ranging from 35kW to 111kW and recovery rates of up to 1900 litres/hour through a temperature rise of 50oC. These high efficiency units feature a low NOx pre-mix power burner that is quiet in operation, and a gross efficiency up to 98%, keeping running costs to a minimum.  The water heaters incorporate Vitraglas® silica glass lined tanks which provides protection against the corrosive effect of hot water and guarantees a longer working life. All models incorporate  Correx   maintenance  free  powered  anodes  as  standard,   which substantially reduce service time and costs and the factory fitted Hydrojet® sediment reduction system on the cold inlet connection helps to prevent sediment build-up at the base of the tank giving a longer and more efficient working life. All ECOflo models can be flued either vertically or horizontally as room sealed, balanced flue appliances, offering the ultimate in siting and installation flexibility. As with all Andrews Water Heaters, heat input and flow are carefully regulated to produce a closely controlled water temperature and a high temperature anti-Legionella program is incorporated as standard.