HeatingSave

AN award-winning Hail Weston company promises a minimum 25 per cent saving in heating bills from a computerised control system that has already been installed by Cambridgeshire fire service and neighbouring Bedfordshire police.

AN award-winning Hail Weston company promises a minimum 25 per cent saving in heating bills from a computerised control system that has already been installed by Cambridgeshire fire service and neighbouring Bedfordshire police.

HeatingSave, which was a Hunts Post Business Award winner last year, is an offshoot of Tensor plc, which specialises in security controls. It used technology from the parent company to develop a computer algorithm to turn off unneeded heating.

One early client, the Sea Cadets head office in London reported a massive 53 per cent reduction in gas usage.

HeatingSave, which the firm says is particularly suitable for buildings with variable occupancy, is installed as a replacement to the boiler time-clock of an existing central heating system.

“Over 98 per cent of central heating systems use hopelessly inefficient controls based on technology that was around 100 years ago,” said Nigel Smith, chairman of Tensor plc. “The beauty of HeatingSave is that it retro-fits to your existing heating system without the need to alter your plumbing.”

Scientists and engineers at HeatingSave spent three months creating a heat loss algorithm, which sits at the heart of the HeatingSave product. This is a mathematical model that continuously ‘learns’ the heat loss profile of a building. HeatingSave then fires up the boilers only when absolutely necessary, at the last moment, to get the building up to temperature for when people arrive.

It uses inexpensive passive infra-red detectors (PIRs) commonly found in burglar alarm systems, as occupancy detectors. The system automatically turns down the heating when nobody is about and automatically turns it up again when people are about – all saving large amounts of gas or oil in the process.

The product was specified by the Building Research Establishment (BRE) for the two eco-houses that comprise the Huntingdonshire District Council’s Greenhouse Project and are scheduled to be opened to the public next week. Details can be found at www.greenhouseproject.co.uk

INFORMATION: HeatingSave controllers start from £428 (plus five per cent VAT) and can be installed in a matter of hours. More at www.heatingsave.com or from Nigel Smith on 01480 223923.