Keith Rimmer of KSR approached the Energy House 2.0 team with a prototype of his ‘Thermocill’ product. This is a simple device that is fitted to under the window board of a window that sits directly above a central heating radiator which is the arrangement commonly found in most homes. KSR developed their own test rig which indicated a reduced heat loss through the window and quicker room heat up times that when the Thermocill device was fitted. Thermocill is a simple device that is easily fitted under the window board, directing rising warm air from the radiator onto the inside surface of the window.
The Thermocill device was tested in the thermal comfort laboratory within the Energy House; this is a single room with precisely controlled conditions and the aim of the testing was to assess the impact of the Thermocill on heat loss through a window and thermal comfort within the room.
Energy House researchers carried out a series of tests under precisely controlled conditions in the assessing three major factors:
- Heat flux through the window (a typical double glazed unit)
- Window surface temperatures
- Thermal comfort within the room (air velocity, RH, Black Globe temperature, air temperature)
- Room heat up times
The experimental set up is shown below:
(a) simplified schematic of measurement points and (b) experimental set up in the Salford Energy House thermal comfort laboratory.
The highlights from the testing were:
- At a room temperature set point of 21⁰C the Thermocill reduced the warm-up period in the laboratory by up to 23%. This improvement was not observed at a 23⁰C set point.
- Both U values and heat flux through the window were reduced with the Thermocill; 3% (from 1.71 W/m2K to 1.65 W/m2K) at room set point of 21 °C and by 2% (from 1.73 W/m2K to 1.69 W/m2K) at 23 °C.
- Heating energy for the room was reduced by Thermocill, under the test conditions, the savings could be up to 16% at 21 °C and 3% at 23 °C.
KSR have applied for a patent with the and intention of large-scale manufacture and a product launch. Discussions underway with Energy House 2.0 researchers about work in the following areas:
- Extrapolation of the results obtained from the thermal comfort laboratory to a typical house.
- Modelling of air flows in order to understand the heat transfer mechanisms and optimise the Thermocill design
- Monitored field trials.
Details about the Thermocill product can be obtained at www.thermocill.com , and you can read the full report on the product.