Last year Kingspan Environmental launched the new Tribune XE and it became ‘best in class’ with the first “A” Rated cylinder on the market for energy efficiency. However, Kingspan Environmental was already looking ahead to planned changes in the performance standard for unvented cylinders. Performance and costs have leapfrogged to the top of the selection criteria and is fast becoming a critical differentiator for building professionals and their customers when choosing which hot water cylinder to specify.
Crucially, the latest testing of cylinders includes a revised hot water draw off test designed to quantify the amount of usable hot water a cylinder produces in normal conditions. This new V40 testing is now an essential part of BS EN 12897:2016 standard. The V40 test defines usable hot water as the volume of water that can be drawn from the cylinder at 40°C.
Under strict test conditions, Kingspan Environmental’s new cylinder design, containing a built-in thermal expansion space with side mounted hot water draw off, has smashed the performance set by the previous design, using an external expansion vessel and top draw off. The new design is featured in the Tribune Xe and Ultrasteel Plus ranges of cylinders and provides on average 14% more usable hot water at the required 40°C, for another outstanding performance. It seems impossible that the same capacity cylinder could have such a dramatic difference in output, but the tests results speak for themselves. The key factor is Kingspan Enviromental’s unique combination of ‘bubble top’ and ‘side mounted hot water draw off’. In a standard unvented cylinder using an external expansion vessel the water that expands into the vessel is cold, as it is draw from the cold part of the cylinder. However, the expanded water in our cylinders with a built-in expansion space is hot at 60°C, and this small amount of extra hot water goes an extremely long way, when mixed with cold water to achieve the 40°C temperature specified in the standard.
By looking forwards and working to the new performance test methodology and procedures, Kingspan Environmental aim to ensure that its products continue to meet and surpass the requirements of both current and future building standards.
In addition to the improved V40 performance, the new built-in thermal expansion space provides many other advantages. The fundamental one is the elimination of the external expansion vessel. This can reduce installation times by around 30 minutes per cylinder, and saves on a number of ancillary components, such as around 2m of 22mm copper tube and plumbing fittings, not to mention the improved system reliability built-in thermal expansion can provide. External expansion vessels can be problematic, consisting of a basic steel container with a rubber diaphragm acting as a barrier between the hot water and a pressurised air compartment. The rubber diaphragm inflates as the water is heated and expands or deflates as it cools and contracts. This means the diaphragm is undergoing continuous physical strain throughout its working life and is vulnerable to failure if not maintained regularly.
All the benefits of built-in thermal expansion combined with the new hot water draw performance gives installers and specifiers alike further reason to recommend both the Tribune XE and Ultrasteel Plus series to customers as the best stored hot water solution their money can buy.