Comfort
- In most cases the customer will have Constant hot water and heating on demand when using District or communal Heating. The heat and hot water is available at a range of temperatures and can be adjusted to suit individual needs.
Customers have no concern over fuel availability and the communal system is design to work automatically. This can be further emphasised in some cases where multiple technologies are installed in a system, such as Combined Heat and Power (CHP), Biomass and heat pumps, therefore providing flexibility in how the energy is generated and distributed throughout the system.
Installation
- The design of a district heating system is a vital step in the build process to ensure that the installation is both suitable for the development and can be operated to maximum levels of efficiency.
Good design practice will allow for more free space in the dwelling as there is no requirement for a domestic boiler. In some cases hot water tanks will remain in the dwelling to increase user flexibility. The air in your home is cleaner as there are no flue gases from oil or gas boiler, circulating around the house.
We believe that operators of district heating systems such as Kaizen Energy need to be involved the entire build process to ensure that the system will operate correctly and deliver the benefits to both the developer’s and owners / tenants. This is a service we offer to design consultants and developers.
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Applications of District Heating |
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Residential |
Commercial |
Public Sector |
Industrial |
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Housing Estates |
Office Buildings |
Hospitals |
Data Centre’s |
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Apartment Buildings |
Business & Retail Parks |
Nursing Homes |
Dairy plants |
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Mixed Residential & Retail |
Hotels & Leisure Centres |
Schools & Universities |
Steel manufacturing |
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Retirement Villages |
Factories |
Civic Buildings |
chemical manufacturing |
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Maintenance
- The equipment and plant used to generate heating and hot water is centrally located in the development therefore owners / tenants do not need to worry about the maintenance and upkeep of the system. Kaizen Energy will operate and maintain all associated plant within the communal system. We will carry out life cycle studies to all plant and equipment and allocate sinking fund contributions to allow for the upgrade and replacement of equipment whenever necessary. Kaizen Energy will provide a 24/7 callout service in the unlikely case of breakdown .
Local Economy Support
- By having District Heating in your home, you will be supporting your local economy and local jobs, which is very important in this tough economic climate. Kaizen Energy will replace much of imported fuel (oil, gas) with local supply (Biomass) and therefore spending money in the local economy, rather than abroad i.e. buying Irish. Maintenance jobs will be created and the company will be paying taxes to the Irish Government and Local Authority.
Efficiency
- Natural Gas and Oil boilers are usually 70 – 90% efficient depending on age of boiler.
District Heating is 100% efficient for end users taking heat and hot water from the system. Therefore, if you spend €1,500 on your gas bill per year, you could be wasting anything from €150- €450 on your inefficient boiler. District Heating will help you save you this money.
Environmentally Friendly
- A centralised heating system reduces the emissions to the environment, compared to individual heating systems as it is extremely energy efficient. Users can be assured that they are significantly reducing their carbon footprint. The owners also have the benefit of an improved BER rating.
Using Communal Heating deduces carbon dioxide (CO2), Sulphur oxides (SOx) and Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) emissions and help with the battle against climate change. This is a significant contribution to Ireland’s commitment to reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions.
District Heating also reduces local pollutants as dust, fine particles, and sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides by relocating exhausts from individual boilers to centralised chimneys.
A variety of studies document the environmental benefits of District Heating and Cooling. For example the Eco heat cool study supported by the European Commission confirms
“The possibility of saving an extra 404 million tons of CO2 annually (additional to the 113 million tons/year avoided by DH in 2003) in the time horizon 2020 by doubling and improving District Heating across 32 European countries. http://www.euroheat.org/Files/Filer/documents/Publications/District%20Heating%20in%20buildings_final.pdf
Price and security of fuel supply
- Security of Supply is a huge issue for many countries and their consumers. Ireland is no different. District Heating helps to ease this problem. Price volatility will not be an issue. Customers are secure from dramatic, short-term swings in the price of fossil fuels.
Many experts now believe we have reached peak oil and oil exports are declining. Oil may become scarce in the near future, so having an alternative fuel for heat makes good sense. It gives customers a higher degree of fuel flexibility. Commercial consumers will become more competitive with cheaper reliable heating and not having the problem of price volatility.
“District heating is one of the cheapest heat sources on the market. Statistics show that it is a very stable heat source, making expenditures predictable for customer.”
Operating District Heating in your home / business:
- The home owner will have full operational control over the heating system in their home, and can control the temperature through a digital control unit or timeclock. The digital control unit will also allow you to monitor the energy used in your home and make the owner become more efficient in their energy use.
District heating is the world’s most convenient heating form. In everyday life, consumers hardly notice how their home and water are heated.
Health & Safety
In a DH scheme, there is no need for a gas connection to the dwelling, provided occupants are happy to cook by electricity. This reduces the risk of fire and poisoning by carbon monoxide within the dwelling. District heating is odourless and therefore safer than gas.
BER Rating
- BER rating of consumers house/building is improved by having heating supplied to your home by District Heating. In a study by Codema in Dublin City, the BER of a building can drastically improve if a District Heating system which has the potential to recover waste heat from the electricity generation operated by a CHP is used.
“This has the effect of improving the BER rating from D1 to B2 without any change to fabric or insulation of the building….depending on the source of heat for the DH system, the building energy rating can improve by up to 68% by comparison with the current design.”http://www.dublinwastetoenergy.ie/uploads/archive/files/FeasibilityStudyMainReport29-09-2008.pdf
- Reliability
District heating is normally very reliable, because district heat can be produced at multiple production facilities using a variety of fuels (Increased reliability). Advanced automation system control enables service personnel to conduct monitoring by remote control systems. Kaizen Energy monitor and operate all of our system remotely from our office therefore capturing any potential faults and system losses.
- Consumer Billing
Kaizen Energy provide a full billing solution to all of our communal heating systems. Our custom-built software allows for accurate billing using exact meter information from the consumer’s heat interface unit located outside their dwelling. We also deal with all payment transactions through our client accounts for complete transparency. Payment can be made through a number of means including direct debit, online payments through our website or bank transfers / lodgements.