Simon Butcher, Technical Services Manager
For the domestic or light commercial installer, working with fan convectors on light commercial projects should be the most straightforward of heating solutions that you can provide. Here, Simon Butcher, Technical Services Manager at Smith’s EP, explains that the more familiarity an installer has with a fan convector, the better, but even the novice will quickly find themselves at home with a heater that is the most flexible on the market, easy to install and beautifully responsive to control.
Flexibility
Fan convectors are, without exception, the most flexible hydronic heat emitter available on the market today. They come in all styles, can be installed literally anywhere, can be physically tweaked to create a bespoke solution and can operate with almost any type of boiler or heat pump you care to mention.
They also work in almost every kind of project imaginable. We have some different projects we’re working on at the moment that cover all kinds of establishments, requiring all sorts of solutions but all are being supplied with fan convectors in one shape or form because the overall benefits the humble fan convector brings to a project are myriad, depending on the drivers of the project at hand.
For example, I’ve been supporting a renovation project in Anglesey in a beautiful traditional hotel built in 1897. The interior character and aesthetics of the building had to be preserved and they do not want to have fan convectors on show to detract from the décor of the hotel. We are able to accommodate these challenges and have provided a number of different suggestions that have been implemented by the installer to the great pleasure of the hotelier. There’s a requirement for heating in the hall. The staircase occupies a grand and central location and the rest of the hall is also impressive. Our solution has been to provide a Caspian FF with a reverse air flow so that the air goes in at the top and the heat comes out of the bottom. This has then been installed inside the cupboard under the stairs and the heat ducted to a grille in the bottom step. We’ve also provided the same product sprayed in black to sit behind an ornate surround so that it will be all but invisible.
This flexibility of both siting and function is invaluable for installers because it will allow you to work with your light commercial clients on the most seemingly challenging of projects or the most mundane of locations. We’re about to start work on a project at Leeds United Football Club, which is refurbishing its changing rooms. We’re providing a number of Caspian Skylines, which fit flush into a suspended ceiling. Here fan convectors have been chosen because they free up wall space, vital in any changing room, allowing for benches, hangers and also minimising the risk of them being damaged. It’s a glamorous location but the function of the fan convector here is discreet and highly convenient.
Easy to install
Fan convectors are hydronic and so most installers should be able to install them with few concerns. Their very design means that they use a mere 5% of the water content of an equivalent output radiator which means they are also significantly more efficient. As a reminder, fan convectors function by means of a heat exchanger and a small electric fan. The heat exchanger is connected to a standard two-pipe central heating system which passes hot water through the heat exchanger, transferring its heat to the aluminium fins. The fan draws in cooler air which is heated as it moves over the heat exchanger and is then expelled gently back into the room by the same fan. Unlike a conventional panel radiator, the fan convector provides more even temperature spread and much faster warmth. The small fan means that the heat produced is distributed using forced, rather than natural, convection and consequently this makes it far more responsive to thermostatic controls and means that fan convectors lend themselves to a significant number of different commercial applications.
Responsive controls
We’ve also taken the decision to provide units with the controls already fitted in our fan convectors, in consultation with specific contractors for their projects, to save time and also avoid any kind of confusion that might arise if the controls box is separate from the fan convector itself. This is something we’ve done for a village hall project where the community centre is having Caspian UVs installed at a high level with internal proportional heat output controls (PHOCs) and an option to add individual thermostatic controls at a later date if required. One of the benefits of PHOCs already installed is that it prevents users of the hall interfering with the heating controls determined by the building’s manager.
At a school in Stamford, every single fan convector unit we’re supplying (20 at the last count) will have an integral PHOC. This modulates the fan speed, depending on the room temperature, allowing users to maximise the room temperature at prime times, before staff and children arrive. The modulation is so gentle and sophisticated that its barely noticeably and allows access to the full range of the fan convector’s output. We’ve also provided a bespoke EXT unit for the school’s outstandingly beautiful library and this is a further example of the fan convector’s flexibility and usability in all kinds of locations.
Another benefit of fan convectors is that you can organise them in a master and slave schematic and we’re in the middle of a project in central London that is using this as a critical component in the heating solution we’re providing. Again, the PHOC controls will be prewired and an integral part of the units and the first phase is using our concealed fan convector, the Caspian UVC and well as our mainstream UV, because the need to conceal the units has arisen in large part, this is a replacement project. The PHOCs will be managed by radio frequency wireless room thermostats.
Light commercial installers are really spoiled for choice when selecting fan convectors for their projects because the quality and range available on the market is quite phenomenal. We would recommend working with manufacturers that will go the extra mile and go out of their way to meet your specifications, even if that means creating a bespoke solution for all or part of your project. We’re encouraged to see that the role and reputation of fan convectors, is slowly gaining because of the benefits they bring and the flexible options available.
