Thermaskirts Architect and Builder Cover Story

Volume 9, No. 4. (#39)

www.architectandbuilder.com.au

ThermaSkirt The skirting board that heats your home or office

Nightclub Takes Off Suite treatment for new Frasers hotel

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ThermaSkirt

The skirting board that heats your home or office An exciting new product has just arrived on our shores that could revolutionise the way we heat our buildings here in winter.

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Since the Den

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Since the Den the DiscreteHeat Company has grown and expanded at a fast rate.

ThermaSkirt has now been installed in well over 10,000 homes and businesses in the UK and is now distributed globally to 13 different countries including Germany, North America, Spain, Uruguay and now Australia. It has also gone on to appear on numerous TV shows including Grand Designs, Property Ladder and Homes Under the Hammer.

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hermaSkirt is an award winning patented heating system that has been designed and manufactured by the DiscreteHeat Company in the UK. It is manufactured from a high tech alloy polymer extrusion. Its patented design looks like normal skirting board and comes in a range of different profiles and colours to match any interior. ThermaSkirt can also be recessed so that it is flush with the finished wall surface making it totally discrete.

The history of ThermaSkirt Award winning eco credentials ThermaSkirt was first conceived and designed

by Martin Wadsworth of DiscreteHeat Company Ltd in the UK. He came up with the idea whilst building his own home in Manchester. He installed hydronic underfloor heating in each room of his home and during the process came across the usual complications and limitations regarding floor coverings. This got him thinking and the idea of using a heated skirting system that was pleasing to the eye and looked like normal skirting was born. He then spent a

“ThermaSkirt represents a new application of skirting board radiators, providing an ideal retrofit solution for properties” lot of time and money developing the idea into the patented product we see today. The budding entrepreneur was so confident with his new product that he decided to appear on the popular UK TV show Dragons’ Den.

Into the Dragons’ Den Martin appeared on the show in 2008 to seek an investment of £150,000. He planned to use this investment to help him to promote the product and increase sales. Martin failed to gain the investment that he was looking for, however the day after the show aired the phone started ringing and Martin landed several multi-million pound orders for ThermaSkirt. One year on, James Caan, one of the Dragons to turn down Martin on the show travelled to Manchester to meet him and offer him the full £150,000 investment that was originally sought. Martin turned down this offer as he felt that the company was no longer in need of the investment.

James Caan has since said “This was a missed opportunity and could be the one that got away”.

Despite stiff competition from some of the biggest names in the industry, DiscreteHeat swept them aside at the National Heat Pump awards (held at the International Conference Centre in Birmingham, UK) to scoop the Most Innovative Product award for its revolutionary heating product ThermaSkirt.

Judges’ remarks:”ThermaSkirt represents a new application of skirting board radiators, providing an ideal retrofit solution for properties” The Judges recognised that the installation of renewable technologies such as heat pumps (and solar thermal) requires heating systems like ThermaSkirt to work at lower flow temperatures to maximise efficiencies, whilst they have to be simple to install in existing properties if the market is going to reach its full potential.

Simple to install One of the biggest benefits of this new system is its simplicity to install. ThermaSkirt can be installed simply into both new build and refurbishment projects alike. As it is ‘above ground’ there is minimal disturbance to the property and there is no restriction on the final choice of floor finish. ThermaSkirt works as well with carpets and laminate as it does with tiles or marble.

In a new build, ThermaSkirt can reduce and simplify pipework runs as feed and returns are to ‘one end’ of the room, usually near the door.

ThermaSkirt Australia Air Heat Pumps WA head Stephen James has joined forces with Allan Sharkey and Gary Rawling of Get Green Solar to bring the Thermaskirt down under.

Launching in Perth last October, Mr James said the new product caught his eye when he first saw it on Dragons’ Den in 2008.

“My company AIR Heat Pumps specialize in heat pump technology and we were looking for a system that could be used with heat pumps to heat buildings in the most economical way possible. We do offer

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hydronic underfloor heating solutions which work well with heat pumps, however there is no easy way to retrofit these systems to existing buildings.” Mr James said.

“We were looking at ways we could install energy efficient heating in homes and buildings that could be easily retrofitted with minimal disruption caused.

“I remembered the Thermaskirt product from when I saw it on Dragons’ Den years prior and thought it was a great idea.

After flying over to the UK to meet with Martin Wadsworth early last year, Stephen struck up a deal that saw the birth of ThermaSkirt Australia which is the sole importer and distributor of the product in Australia.

Based in Perth, Thermaskirt Australia distribute the product Australia wide and offer product, design and installation training to businesses looking to use the product.

Greater Comfort & Energy Efficiency As ThermaSkirt heats the room from all directions at low level using radiant heat, you eliminate drafts or hot spots created by the convection (movement of air) that electric or gas heaters need to heat the room. It also offers a far more comfortable solution than reverse cycle air-conditioning that blows hot air around the room. Heat rises and then cools meaning that electric or gas heaters and reverse cycle air-conditioners heat the ceiling first before you – often requiring heat output to be up to 30% bigger than the room requires to compensate.

Test results show that the unique thermal distribution pattern of ThermaSkirt is practically identical to underfloor heating (UFH), with only a ±1.3°C variation compared to a standard heater with a massive 13°C variation (BSRIA test report 51397/1).

KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden has published a paper investigating the thermal performance of radiant skirting boards using Discrete Heat’s ThermaSkirt heated skirting board as the test sample.

The extensive experiment evaluated the capacity of radiant baseboards to work in conjunction with heat pumps in built

environments. The rigorous testing of both ThermaSkirt and a range of conventional radiators provided data that showed radiant baseboards had a significantly higher heat transfer ability of 50% more than panel radiators. The research also shows the compatibility of heated skirting boards and heat pumps to be more effective than using traditional radiator panels in a heat pump system.

The Swedish government has implemented a number of measures over the last decade to help reduce the electrical peak loads and energy consumption during the heating season. From 2006 homeowners could be refunded up to 30% of conversion costs when converting from electric to alternative heating systems. As a result the installation of heat pumps increased with the one-millionth heat pump put into operation in 2010 for residential use.

“most people do not even realise that what they presume to be a skirting board is actually warming the room.” www.architectandbuilder.com.au

Commercial applications ThermaSkirt has been specified on many prestigious Office Buildings, Retail Outlets, Hospitals, Schools, Care Homes and other public spaces around the world.

One such project was a 3,000m² commercial office development in Holland which was being constructed by the large global company BAM Construction.

The building was designed with a hydronic heating system to provide the most comfortable and economical form of heating. The architects originally specified the use of floor mounted designer radiators to combat heat losses through the floor to ceiling glass windows, it was only very late on in the project that they realised the visual impact they would make. Being visible from the outside and spoiling the vista from the inside, the large bulky radiators were more disaster than designer.

The Architects and M&E Consultants set about trying to find a discreet alternative hydronic heating system and using Google, came across ThermaSkirt, distributed in Holland by Heat & Design Ltd of Amsterdam.

The Architects recognised the opportunity to floor mount the ThermaSkirt giving them a completely clear view through the floor to ceiling windows and a more evenly

One of the first Hospitals to have ThermaSkirt installed was Trafford General Hospital.

“We selected DiscreteHeat’s system of heated alloy skirting for clinic rooms when developing the new children’s unit at Trafford General Hospital because we thought it would reduce infection risk.

We are proud of our record on preventing health-care associated infections here in Trafford and are always looking for new products that can further cement it by reducing risk.

distributed and comfortable heat around the offices. Even more exciting was the ability to colour match the ThermaSkirt profile and covers to the windows in a dark green (RAL 7011) colour.

The results were remarkable with a practically invisible heating system with improved energy efficiency and lower running cost.

In addition, the whole solution worked out considerably cheaper and quicker to install than the originally specified designer radiators. The use of ThermaSkirt in place of the originally specified radiators netted a total saving of €32,000 and will provide significant savings on the annual heating costs for the building.

ThermaSkirt has also been installed in hospitals with the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK recognising it’s benefits over other forms of heating.

The most significant benefit of the technology to hospitals lies with its ability to provide a heating system which facilitates regular easy cleaning that can be incorporated into the daily floor cleaning routine for clinical areas and carried out by regular cleaning staff.

ThermaSkirt utilises radiant heat whereas reverse cycle air-conditioners rely on the movement of warm air around the building.

Consequently a change from reverse cycle air-conditioners to a radiant heat source can reduce the amount of dust and air particles that are circulated in the air reducing the risk of aggravating respiratory conditions such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

There are also strong financial benefits for hospitals using ThermaSkirt. It is estimated by the Department of Health that there are 300,000 Healthcare Associated Infections (HCAIs) each year with the estimated cost to the NHS of caring for people that acquire a HCAI being over £1billion pounds per year.

Patients who acquire a HCAI spend nearly two and a half times longer in hospital,

costing the NHS between £4,000 and £10,000.

Hospitals have a duty of care to ensure that all patients are treated in a clean, safe environment. Hospitals with reverse cycle air-conditioning systems in place may wish to consider the adoption of the ThermaSkirt technology to eliminate labour intensive and disruptive cleaning routines through the provision of an easy to clean heating source, whilst for new builds the infection control benefits of ThermaSkirt over the installation of reverse cycle air-conditioning systems are worthy of serious consideration. There are also large cost savings to be realised in relation to improved energy efficiency.

The UK’s Shadow Secretary of State Andy Burnham MP recently made a special visit to DiscreteHeat’s factory in Manchester to see the ThermaSkirt product and further understand its benefits to the Health Service.

Andy Burnham said: “ThermaSkirt is a well-designed, locally made product that could bring significant benefits for the NHS. I hope to help open doors for DiscreteHeat to achieve a greater awareness in the health service.”

The ThermaSkirt system keeps the whole children’s unit at a comfortable temperature and it is easy to keep it clean because, unlike a radiator, there are no nooks and crannies where airborne particles can hide.

The ThermaSkirt is also proving more efficient and my estate colleagues tell me that it is saving energy and running costs.”

The most recent Hospital installation was at Queensway Health Clinic.

Graham Bell, Head of Capital projects for NHS Property Services concludes; “As part of the Queensway Health Clinic refurbishment we were very keen to ensure an energy efficient delivery of heat, whilst maintaining patient safety and to design out cleaning troubles, which are typically experienced with traditional radiators especially when they are fitted with an LST cover. Specifying ThermaSkirt has achieved all the above.

The heating is very discreet and most people do not even realise that what they presume to be a skirting board is actually warming the room.”

For more information about ThermaSkirt visit www.thermaskirt.com.au or call 1300 866 911.

“I remembered the Thermaskirt product from when I saw it on Dragons’ Den years prior and thought it was a great idea.” www.architectandbuilder.com.au

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Dr Barzo Faris said:

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