Barratt’s Energy House 2.0, in collaboration with Salford University, showcases the exceptional performance of the ThermaSkirt Heating System, marking a significant leap in the quest for eco-friendly and innovative heating systems
When housebuilders are developing their strategy for meeting their obligations under the Future Homes Standard, one of the challenges is properly measuring the performance of the house and the energy-saving measures within it.
The Salford Energy House is the largest test chamber of its kind, able to contain two full-size detached houses in a climate-controlled environment to provide developers with exact test data and information.
This means that houses can be built exactly as designed & specified (complete with footings and services) such that they can then be tested (and even lived in!) in all manner of weather and temperature conditions.
At a cost of over £16m, Energy House 2.0 is poised to revolutionise the way we design and build our homes.
The initial testing
Barratt Developments PLC are the UK’s largest housebuilder, with over 18,000 properties completed every year.
As such, it is incumbent on them to spearhead the decarbonisation of the UK’s homes by adopting technologies that help reduce CO2 in both the operational & embodied carbon.
Counterbalancing is the need to proceed cautiously and only in the wake of proven and sustainable products and rigorous testing.
Barratt’s first foray into the Future Homes Standard was their ‘Z’ house, built conventionally on the grounds of Salford University and incorporating a range of technologies, including ASHP, Solar, and heat recovery.
With regards to the heating, a combination of radiators, underfloor heating and ThermaSkirt Skirting heating were installed and tested comparatively.
Based on these tests, only the ThermaSkirt was taken forward as the only heat emitter for the ASHP installed in 2Energy House 2.0
Energy House 2.0 – Installation
Technical & innovations director for Barratts, Oliver Novakovic, explains: “The temperature in the heating system (on an ASHP) reduces down to 40~45°C so you need a lot more surface area, and the radiators can get quite big.
“The problem with bigger radiators is they get in the way of furniture and other things. Salford University introduced us to this innovation whereby the hot water travels through the skirting boards.
“In the houses we are trialling, we won’t have radiators; we’ll either have under floor heating or skirting heating.”
For Energy House 2.0, designs were drawn up in co-operation with REDD Design, and a 1st fix plan devised for installation by C Parkinson, who work closely with Barratts in the Northwest.
One of the benefits that became immediately apparent from the 1st fix, was the simplicity and consistency compared to oversized radiators and underfloor heating.
Firstly, the pipe runs are considerably shorter than for radiators, as ThermaSkirt can be connected at any convenient point – usually just inside the doorway – rather than under a window for a radiator.
In addition, ThermaSkirt does not need a manifold as it can be plumbed up in parallel like a traditional radiator system. Secondly, irrespective of the style or output size of the ThermaSkirt, the pipes spacings in 15mmØ are always the same centres (35mm apart, at one end).
This makes for simple and consistent 1st fix, rather than the myriad of different spacings that are required for K2 & K3 oversized radiators – on one Barratts design alone there were 11 different radiator sizes and pipe spacings.
Thirdly, there is no need to reinforce the walls or use pattress fixings to cope with the increased weight and volume of the oversized radiators; ThermaSkirt clips effortlessly to the wall as the skirting board on patented Easy-FIx™ brackets.
Roger Parkinson, managing director of C Parkinsons: “We installed the 1st fix on the Z House & EH2 for the ThermaSkirt and to be honest; it was simpler than for rads, as all the pipe spacings were the same and the runs shorter. Watching the 2nd fix fly in, and seeing the end result, we’d be happy to install the whole system.”
The 2nd fix of the ThermaSkirt was done in less than 10 hours and was independently monitored by Salford University as one of the critical factors for Barratts was speed of installation.
Considering that the ThermaSkirt provides the heating, skirting, and painting in one convenient pre-finished package; this easily undercut the times required for radiators, MDF skirting boards and their painting thereof.
ThermaSkirt combines the radiators and skirting in one, freeing up valuable wall space and speeding installation. As it’s ‘above ground’ the type of floor construction or final covering does not affect performance.
The room temperature can be controlled by a either a simple mechanical control, (similar in operation to a standard radiator valve), via 2 port valve or back to a manifold with room thermostats like UFH.
The DHW and heating system are fed off a smart cylinder which maximises the CoP of the heat pump, and works well with the lower water volume and high radiant heat output of the aluminum profile of ThermaSkirt.
The result
The house has been put through its paces for the last 12 months, with the emphasis on cold weather performance on the air source heat pump. For long periods, the climate chamber was maintained at a frosty minus 6°C with a target internal temperature of 22°C.
The results were impressive, with the room temperature readily achieved, despite the average surface temperature of the ThermaSkirt reading 35~38°C.
Visitors to Energy House 2.0 have been able to compare the comfort, space and aesthetic advantages of ThermaSkirt to the house next door (built by another developer), which has opted for oversized radiators, with many from the Social Housing Sector also recognizing the health and safety benefits of having a simple wipe clean surface, no hard edges in the event of a fall, and no risk of the heat emitter coming away from the wall.
Other developers have spotted the opportunity to make their properties more spacious and appealing, as well as ‘heat-pump-ready’ by sizing the ThermaSkirt to run at ASHP temperatures whilst sticking with the gas boiler for the time being.
This allows them to transition not only their customers to a lower flow temperature system saving them energy, but also their installer base to renewables in a timely and measured manner.
As a result several sites have already adopted and/or specified the ThermaSkirt solution on both ASHP and boiler driven properties.
“The eHome2 heating system has been in almost constant use from mid-February 2023 and no problems or issues have been reported with respect to the ThermaSkirt performance or installation. Testing and evaluation is on-going.”
Joe Flanagan,
Project Manager Future Homes,
The University of Salford
“At lower flow temperatures, heat distribution becomes much more critical to achieve high levels of thermal comfort and optimise energy performance. Low level radiant heat, at the perimeter is an effective way of achieving this. REDD design are currently working on several schemes utilising skirting heating”
Neil Stone, Managing Director, REDD Design Ltd, Barratts M&E Design Consultants)
