When the guys from flow energy got in touch we were intrigued by their patented MicroCHP (combined heat and power) central heating boiler that makes electricity while heating your Hem.
We asked Flow’s CEO, Tony Stiff, to tell us a bit more about the technology and where he sees smart home micro generation heading in the next decade…
Hi Tony, can you tell us a bit about your background and what brought you to the world of heating innovation.
Hi Mark, thanks for having me. I’ve actually always had a history of working with energy and innovation.
Before I joined flow group, I was the commercial director of Bglobal plc where I helped prove the concept of their smart-metering products and was responsible for securing commercial contracts with leading energy suppliers. In 2000, I founded Atlantic electric and Gas Limited, a business backed by US-based Sempra Energy, Inc.
The business quickly became one of the UK’s leading independent energy suppliers, with over 300,000 customers. In 1994, I founded Webbins limited (“Webbins”). I wanted to exploit the gap in the market for a software product that customers could use to evaluate energy contracts. having grown Webbins into a company with over 100 staff and £10m turnover, I negotiated the sale of the company to MMT Computing plc, and continued to manage the business for three years afterwards.
For someone that’s never heard of it before, can you explain the MicroCHP concept?
MicroCHP or ‘micro combined heat and Power’ is a technology which allows the production of electricity in the home. There are a few different versions of the technology but we use the organic Rankine Cycle.
Our microCHP product is a domestic gas boiler. It uses patented technology inside the boiler to generate electricity at the same time as it’s heating a home. Gas enters the boiler as usual, but instead of heating the water directly, it heats a liquid – a coolant similar to that used in refrigerators. This liquid evaporates and moves through a scroll expander that begins to spin acting like a small dynamo. The electricity it generates can either be used in the home or exported to the Grid.
So why do I need a boiler that makes electricity as well as heat, can it possibly be as efficient as the power station supplying my home?
Big power stations tend to lose a lot of energy when they generate electricity. more of the energy is lost when that electricity is transmitted down power lines to customer homes.
The flow boiler generates electricity in a highly efficient system in the home and the electricity is then used within the home so there are no losses in transmission. This means that the flow boiler generates electricity more cost effectively and with less carbon emissions than big power stations do. The flow boiler can generate electricity worth around £200 each year – worth £500 if you include Feed-in Tariff payments – and it does that by burning only about £50 of additional gas a year, reducing household carbon emissions by up to 20%, or 1,000 kg of co2.
Does your high-tech boiler come with high-tech controls so I can schedule and control it from my smartphone?
The launch version of the flow boiler is controlled with a standard thermostat. However, we are working to integrate remote and intelligent control for future versions – so watch this space.
The ultimate aim will be able to give customers better visibility and control over their energy use, all the while, reducing their carbon footprint and overall energy bill.
The Automated home currently uses a conventional boiler fuelled by heating oil. Can the flow boiler replace this setup easily?
The flow boiler uses natural gas or LPG and doesn’t work with heating oil. However, it’s relatively easy to convert a home’s heating system to use LPG rather than oil and then a flow boiler could be installed simply and quickly.
Do you have a range of models for different sized homes?
Our launch model is suitable for 3-5 bedroom homes that currently have a separate hot water tank. We plan to launch a combination boiler in the future which doesn’t require a separate hot water tank and which will be suitable for both larger and smaller houses.
To make sure the flow boiler is right for a customer’s home, we ask a few quick qualifying questions and then, if the answers match, we conduct a free home survey to confirm.
Are there any government grants available to help with the costs and what’s the payback time for someone investing in the flow system?
MicroCHP as a technology does attract a dedicated Feed-in Tariff. However, to celebrate the launch of the flow boiler we’re actually providing our own support for the product with a guaranteed payback model over five years. If a customer installs a flow boiler, switches their home energy to us and assigns Feed-in Tariff payments to us too, then we’ll reduce their home energy bill by £4,800 over five years. Det är mer än kostnaden för pannan.
Kräver flödespannan specialiststöd eller kan den servas av någon värmeingenjör?
Flödespannan kommer att installeras av ett ackrediterat flödesinstallatör och måste också servas och repareras av en ackrediterad flödesinstallatör. Pannan levereras med en 2-årig tillverkares garanti på själva pannan och en tvåårsgaranti på elgenererande kraftmodul som finns i pannan. Power Module -garantin fortsätter emellertid i upp till tio år om kunden fortsätter att hålla sig med flöde för hemmenergi.
Med de utmaningar som ligger framöver för det nationella nätet och samtalet om hembatterier och mikroproduktion, vad tror du att det vanliga hemmenergisystemet kommer att se ut som ett decennium från och med nu?
Jag tror att mikrochp kommer att vara de facto -värmesystemet om tio år. Vi kommer fortfarande att använda gas om tio år, men fokus kommer att ligga på att använda vår gas mycket, mycket mer effektivt, som flödespannan gör. MICROCHP kommer förmodligen att kompletteras i Home Energy System av Solar för sommaren och förstärks med en batterilösning för att lagra den producerade energin. Utan tvekan kommer hela systemet att kontrolleras via smartphone och kommer att ha intelligenta funktioner och funktioner inbyggda för att optimera dess prestanda.
Anslutna enheter i hemmet kommer att fungera automatiskt ibland när Home Energy -systemet producerar mest el och kan avstängas när lite el produceras. Smarta mätare gör det möjligt att skapa smarta energitullar, vilket ger billigare energi från topp och bättre belöningar för produktion av energi vid topptider.
Den visionen är därför jag tycker att energiutrymmet är så spännande för tillfället. Energi är så grundläggande för våra liv och uppkomsten av det anslutna, effektiva hemmet kan sätta energiföretag i en unik position för att leverera innovativa lösningar till kunderna.
Tack för att du pratade med oss idag – var ska människor gå för att ta reda på mer?
Du är mycket välkommen Mark, tack för att du pratade med mig. Du kan ta reda på all den senaste informationen om flödespannan på vår webbplats – www.flowenergy.uk.com där du också kan registrera ditt intresse.
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