Saving energy is becoming increasingly important for everybody involved in the air conditioning industry. Graham Wright of Sanyo Air Conditioners (right) takes a look at this thorny issue and what can be done to help achieve it
It is becoming harder and harder to plead ignorance on the subject of energy saving and its associated issues. Messages urging businesses to become carbon neutral are becoming more and more prevalent in the mainstream media.
The act of becoming carbon neutral is all about taking responsibility for the amount of CO2 an individual or a business produces, and making an effort to offset this by taking part on some kind of CO2 sequestering activity (traditionally tree planting). Many companies are already doing this, but the emphasis for real change is on the way businesses and organisations work and how this can be fundamentally changed to reduce CO2 emissions - attacking the cause of the problem, if you like, rather than dealing with its consequences.
It is a powerful marketing message perhaps, but is it in reality anyway achievable? I think not.
Illustrating this point is a recent report from The Forestry Commission. which shows that as a rough guide, 75% of the land area of Britain would have to be given over to woodland in order to sequester the CO2 produced by the UK’s 30,000,000 motorists alone. And this doesn’t even touch upon the businesses, homes and individuals also emitting carbon at the same time.
The Sanyo GHP has seen an overall improvement in efficiency by using R410A
Heat pumps
Heat pump ac is the most energy efficient way of controlling indoor temperatures. Heat pumps eliminate the need for separate heating and cooling systems, as both actions can be carried out by one unit. Of course another significant advantage is a reduction in CO2 emissions, especially with gas heat pump (GHP) technology: for example gas engines produce 190g/kW input, whereas comparative electric VRF is around 440g/kW input.
As a group, Sanyo is dedicated to the environment and the comfort of individuals.
This commitment comes across strongly in their product offering and can be seen in action within the gas-powered product range.
The new systems over 13hp in this highly efficient GHP range have a newly developed heat reclaim heat exchanger which allows a system in cooling to supply waste heat from the engine into the hot water system, thus improving the system’s COP. The Sanyo GHP system has also seen an overall improvement in efficiency by using R410A refrigerant, and improved engine management. This has seen its COP ratings climb by 19% in gas consumption: 1.3 - 1.6, and in engine output performance: 3.5 - 4.32.
The GHP Range is a pioneering system that utilises mains gas or LPG as its main power source and single-phase electricity for start-up and fan operation.
It provides the ideal solution for operators facing a short-fall in power, but increasing demand in facilities.
The Sanyo GHP range is the only product on the European market to offer simultaneous heating and cooling, single-phase power supply, the option of natural gas or LPG as its power source, 100% heating performance at -20°C, and a choice of DX or chilled water for indoor heat exchange.
The ECA Scheme, for which the most efficient air conditioning systems qualify (including the Sanyo GHP range), enables the purchaser to claim 100% first-year capital allowances on its spending on qualifying plant and machinery. There are three schemes for ECAs: energy-saving plant and machinery; low CO2 emission cars and natural gas and hydrogen refuelling infrastructure; and water conservation plant and machinery.
Users will be able to write off the whole of the capital cost of an investment in the ac system against its taxable profits of the period during which it made the investment.
Conclusion
In common with other forward-thinking sectors, the ac industry is not simply sitting by and doing nothing about energy saving, or climate change. Sanyo is leading the way, not by paying lip-service to a media-friendly marketing initiative, but by bringing to market today, products which are helping to tackle the problems that the world will face tomorrow. Ultimately, in this increasingly environmentally conscious and responsible world, ac manufacturers will be fighting for the key energy efficiency ground ever more voraciously to stay in the race for market share.
Sanyo Air Conditioners
0845 6126364