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Rinnai continuous flow for domestic/light commercial sites

Rinnai’s Infinity range of A-rated continuous flow gas fired water heaters include domestic/light commercial units that are design engineered to guarantee the highest efficiencies, lowest running costs and least maintenance.

Continuous flow – sometimes called ‘Tankless’ – water heating units are ideal for domestic properties, cafes, pub, restaurants, offices, shops, hairdressers, small commercial units, caravan parks and leisure facilities.

Continuous flow water heaters are proven to be more cost efficient than traditional systems.

Small businesses and domestic properties require high volumes of water at intermittent times of the day – delivered at accurate temperatures for optimum user comfort and safety.

Sudden changes in water temperature, causing cold showers or scalding hot baths are a thing of the past with Rinnai’s Infinity 16i water heaters. Unlike other systems available, the water temperature set is the one that is delivered. So, if a user is showering at, say 42°C, and someone turns on a tap elsewhere in the property, the temperature will not vary.

With the Rinnai Infinity units running out of hot water is a thing of the past, as the water is drawn straight from the mains, as and when needed. As the units are IPx4 rated they can be mounted in zone 2 within bathrooms.

The Rinnai Infinity 16i measures 675 x 370 x 103mm and weighs in at 18kg. The room sealed unit has a temperature range of 35°C to 60°C with direct electronic ignition. Gas consumption ranges between 4.7kW-34.9kW for Natural Gas and 4.9kW-36.8kW when using propane. Hot water delivery flow is an impressive 16ltr max flow. Nominal operation pressure is 1-7 bar and it uses a 230V AC 50Hz 1ph power supply with an electrical consumption of 68W.

The Infinity 11i is 29mm deeper, weighing 2kg less at 16kg and consumes 6.10kW-21.60kW of Natural Gas (it is not compatible with propane gas) and has an 11 litres per minute maximum flow.
Meanwhile the Rinnai Infinity 17e unit has the added advantage in that it is externally mounted. This feature gives greater flexibility at the design stage and can offer an alternative solution where flue runs are problematic or internal space is not available.

The 17e has full frost protection. A range of external ancillary items including pipe cover box and security cage are available where necessary.

Capable of flow rates of up to 510 litres per hour at a 50°C rise, the 17e is suitable for multiple applications and can be specified for use with Natural Gas or propane.

For more information on the RINNAI product range visit www.rinnaiuk.com.
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Rinnai continuous flow hot water units replace old stored units at Malvern Hills caravan site

Rinnai, the UK’s leading manufacturer of continuous flow water heating systems, has transformed the hot water delivery arrangements at a busy Caravan Club site in the Malvern Hills.

Malvern Hills Caravan Club site offers its visitors not only the beautiful Malvern Hills to explore but also the Elgar Trail taking in composer’s birthplace at Broadheath to his final abode in Worcester. Malvern adds to its charms with a Festival and Fringe in May as well as laying claim to having the finest parish church in England, all within easy reach of the caravan park. And it is, of course, renowned for its spring water.

The site is especially busy from Easter all the way through to October so there is a continuous need for hot water. Providing plentiful hot water for visitors staying in caravans on up to 210 pitches, with demand for showers before breakfast and dinner is no easy task and it recently became clear that the site’s old, traditional system simply couldn’t cope.

Contractor Booth and Bomford of Evesham advised on the task of supplying the needs of a toilet/shower block with a new state-of-the- art hot water system. It was important that the new system should be able to produce hot water any time of the day or night and never run cold, even at the busiest times.

The decision was taken to install four Rinnai HDC1500i gas fired continuous flow heaters to provide a never-ending supply of temperature-safe hot water for even the busiest of times.

Graham Cox, for Booth and Bomford, explains: “The job involved the removal of the two storage type water heaters and installation of four new Rinnai water heaters. We also needed to re-configure the hot, cold, LPG gas and return pipework to suit the requirements of the new heaters and insulate all new pipework, put in new vertical flues through the roof and a new water conditioning unit to protect the water heaters, followed by test and commission.”

According to Cox, the popular Caravan Club site now benefits from energy and cost savings due to the fact that the new heaters are more efficient providing instantaneous hot water as required rather than having large amounts of stored hot water that is continually re-heated and is not required during out of peak times.

The Caravan Club obviously agrees as Booth and Bomford have won the contract to get to work on another two sites – Moorhampton in Hereford with two Rinnai HDC1500i heaters and Moreton-in-the-Marsh where four HDC1500i heaters are going in.

Booth and Bomford is an established M&E contractor providing plumbing, heating and electrical services working on both commercial and domestic contracts and maintenance services.

Clients include the Caravan Club, care homes, County & District Councils, colleges, schools, building companies and architects, private commercial and residential clients.

Rinnai offers the most energy efficient and cost effective range of LPG-compatible A-rated energy labelled appliances.

For off-grid installation the Rinnai Infinity range offers world beating efficiencies and the most advanced technologies on the market today for anywhere an energy efficient LPG instantaneous water heater is needed.

Chris Goggin, Associate Director, Rinnai UK comments: “Installers and end users can rest assured that A-rated Infinity HDC units, including the HDC1500, offer high-end performance with unrivalled reliability – with this type of application we have seen an energy reduction as high as 30%.”

For more information on the RINNAI product range visit www.rinnaiuk.com.
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Continuous flow up to 7% more cost effective

AECOM, a major global player in the building engineering services consultancy arena, has concluded a report showing that continuous flow water heating systems have a clear advantage in terms of initial capital costs as well as life cycle costs over 20 years, when compared with stored hot water systems*.

The ‘Life cycle study of continuous flow water heating systems’ shows that continuous flow water heating systems can be up to 7% more economical than equivalent ‘traditional’ stored hot water systems.

AECOM was commissioned to carry out a life cycle study on continuous flow water heating systems, and to provide a comparison with conventional storage systems. Two case studies were provided that are based on projects using continuous flow water heating systems.

AECOM then determined an equivalent storage based system for each case study and compared operational and capital costs.

For the life cycle comparison, the analysis period was 20 years, based on the expected service life. The net present value (NPV) calculation is based on a discount rate of 3.5% (The GREEN BOOK – HM Treasury), an inflation rate of 2% for servicing costs and projected retail fuel costs from DECC1.

In both case studies the continuous flow system showed a clear advantage in terms of initial capital costs, as well as life cycle costs over 20 years, with the continuous flow system consistently lower in energy use than the two storage systems.

Case study 1

This was a system for a typical, small, pre-fabricated fast food restaurant. It is assumed the system only serves the hot water demand.

The life cycle analysis includes the initial capital costs, projected annual fuel costs, and estimated annual servicing costs which are assumed to increase by 2% each year. The annual fuel cost assumes the same daily fuel consumption over the whole year.

The servicing cost is based on £130/year per boiler, and £160/year for a boiler and cylinder. The resulting net present values of the three showed that the continuous flow system is 6 – 7% lower than the two storage systems based on that 20-year analysis period.

Case study 2

This was a system for a shower block in a holiday camp, with six showers and four basin taps.

For the continuous flow option, the analysis is based on a configuration of 4 continuous flow water heaters that each have a nominal output of 48 kW, which, for this particular application, because there is a very short run of pipe work between the water heaters and the fixtures, it is possible for the water heaters to generate water at 40°C. The risk of legionella is overcome by regular flushing of the system.

For the energy required to deal with the instantaneous hot water demand the analysis assumes that the bulk of the hot water demand would be due to the showers. Each shower would typically have a flow rate of around 9 litres per minute, which if mixed to 40ºC would equate to an instantaneous load of around 19 kW each, so even if there was only one shower running, the load on a single continuous flow water heater would equate to an efficiency of 95% based on the performance curve. As the hot water demand increases, the modular nature of this particular configuration would allow the 95% efficiency to be maintained for the bulk of the demand.

The difference in daily fuel costs between the three systems is around 7%. The usage profile for this case study is particularly suited to continuous flow systems (i.e. high but infrequent demand over the day), which is why there is an advantage in fuel consumption over the storage systems.

Systems employed in the study

*Indirect fired storage systems
This consists of separate heat source and storage cylinders, where for this study the heat source will be gas fired boilers running on 80ºC flow and 60ºC return with gross efficiency of 89%. As the hot water is stored at 60ºC in insulated cylinders there will be standing heat losses. The standby electricity is assumed to be 15W per boiler, and 60W when operating to cover fan and controls.

Direct fired storage systems
This is where the hot water storage cylinder has an integral gas burner to directly heat the water, and the key difference with indirect fired storage systems is that they are designed to operate in condensing mode and generally achieve gross efficiency up to 96%. A disadvantage of direct fired storage systems is that the standing losses are around 3 times higher than indirect storage cylinders.

Continuous flow systems
This is essentially a gas boiler that is designed to instantaneously heat mains water for supply directly to water fixtures without any storage. The key advantages with this type of hot water heating, is firstly saving in space needed for hot water cylinders and the associated standing heat losses. The challenge is that instantaneous hot water demand can vary hugely for most systems and therefore the continuous flow heating system needs to have a wide modulation range as well as maintaining efficiency over that range.

For more information on the RINNAI product range of high efficiency condensing continuous flow hot water heating units and systems visit www.rinnaiuk.com.
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Rinnai cascades with continuous flow into high on-demand water heating market

Rinnai’s Infinity Plus Cascade is a major move into bigger sites and applications which have a high demand for hot water and energy efficiency, the design parameters of the cascade systems mean that upgrading the traditional water heater to a technologically advanced continuous flow system is simple.

Rinnai, leading innovators in the manufacture of continuous flow water heaters, can now offer commercial hot water provision which is virtually limitless in this custom-made solution with a choice of either two unit or three unit modules of its award-winning condensing continuous flow water heaters.

Infinity Plus Cascade has been developed by Rinnai to guarantee high volumes of temperature accurate hot water. The design parameters of the cascade systems offer ease of integration into new and existing buildings even when retrofitting from traditional storage systems. The modules incorporate Rinnai’s proven energy-saving 1500 or 1200 condensing continuous flow water heaters with its newly developed common header flue system technology.

Infinity Plus Cascade is designed to deliver high efficiencies for the building operator whilst also streamlining the installation in one “turnkey package.” As any number of modules can be manifolded together, it is an ideal solution for large sites and for those applications – where there is a heavy demand for constant hot water.

Installers will find fitting the modules easy and straightforward as Infinity Plus Cascade comes with its own made to measure rack making installation simple and quick, and with no need for excessive rejigging of pipework. The compact footprint of Infinity Plus Cascade means it can be housed in a small space and still be easily accessible for maintenance and servicing.

Not only does the choice of Infinity Plus Cascade give highly significant cost savings over other forms of water heaters, but there also the added remedial work savings, for instance there is no need to knock through walls to cater for the movement of large cumbersome water heating equipment, valuable internal space can be created or saved.

Hot water downtime is also virtually eliminated as the modular nature of the system means that when service and maintenance is performed, elements of the system are still operational saving on service interruptions.

For more information on the RINNAI product range visit www.rinnaiuk.com.
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Rinnai makes major investment in London and South East with appointment of sales team

Rinnai, the UK’s leading manufacturing supplier of high efficiency continuous flow hot water heating and delivery units, has announced a major investment in London and the South East with the formation of a dedicated sales team covering the whole region.

This major investment follows the opening of a London office also dedicated to serving the region.

The new sales team will work in tandem with the Rinnai UK sales centre and technical support at the company’s Runcorn, Cheshire HQ.

“The new premises have been set up in response to high demand for Rinnai product and expertise. Specifiers and installers in the London area now have a direct line to the Rinnai sales force which is ready to offer advice on the latest technologies and legislation and will be a vehicle to inform the industry of new developments, new technologies and new ways,” says Managing Director Tony Gittings.

The team and their areas are, as follows: Scott Amass will look after North London and the associated Home Counties; Steve Richards will be heading sales in West London and associated Home Counties; Kim Wullf will be looking after South London and their Home Counties. All three have extensive experience and track records in the hot water delivery business.

Rinnai’s comprehensive range of A rated energy efficient products for hot water solutions qualify for additional energy efficiency points, boosting building energy performance. The product range far exceeds energy efficiencies in current Building Regulations (Conservation of fuel and power) and legislation. For owners of existing commercial buildings, the use of Rinnai Infinity condensing and high efficiency water heaters qualifies for extra heating efficiency credits.

For more details on RINNAI products visit www.rinnaiuk.com.
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Rinnai goes solo for continuous flow with a store…

Rinnai’s latest innovation in the energy efficient fast delivery of instantly useable hot water is the Infinity Solo Re-Circulator water heater.

The Rinnai Infinity Solo condensing and low NOX water heater is the first of its kind for the UK to combine the advanced technology of wall mounted continuous flow water heaters with a stainless steel storage cylinder, all in one compact footprint.

The design parameters of this product empowers specifiers, designers, installers and engineers to benefit from unique Rinnai technology in applications it was once not previously possible. For instance, the Infinity Solo will have both 35kW and 54kW sized appliances, ensuring sites with a smaller gas meter can readily use this technology. The larger Infinity Solo model will also act as a high-efficiency alternative to gas fired storage appliances that exist in today’s market.

The cylinder is stainless steel and this reduces the weight compared to glass lined models, and it makes transportation and installation a lot easier. As well as the difference in weight, the cylinders also have extremely low heat loss figures (as low as 1.41kW/h day), so the user pays less to maintain the heat within the tank.

One other benefit of the Infinity Solo using a stainless steel cylinder is that the life expectancy of the material is far greater than that of a glass-lined equivalent as glass suffers from thermal shock causing it to crack after a period of time.

The Infinity Solo range is also renewables compatible and supplied pre-fitted with a coil, meaning that the primary energy source will always be from renewable gains and the complementary Rinnai water heater will only apply the precise amount of gas to boost the difference in temperature.

Rinnai manufactures the energy efficient Infinity range of gas fired continuous flow water heaters and space heaters. The Infinity brand carries the widest range of condensing water heaters on the market today with the most impressive efficiencies in operation, leading the field in technological innovation.

For more information on the RINNAI product range visit www.rinnaiuk.com.
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Rinnai – Japanese quality and performance

Rinnai, the Japanese manufacturer of the award winning Infinity range of continuous flow gas fired water heaters, is encouraging installers and end users to purchase units only from reputable manufacturers with a proven pedigree in the UK. The company is adamantly defensive of product quality on behalf of the market place for end-users, contractors and consultants.

Rinnai has a reputation for innovation through design and quality focussed engineering, all built with the highest quality components and standards of exacting manufacture that guarantees a long and efficient working life.

According to Rinnai’s Yuji Omoto: ‘Installers should choose a unit from a proven manufacturer that has the confidence to offer warranties for a product that is built to last – and never buy on a price-only basis.

“Rinnai water heaters are engineered with innovative, electronic and mechanical components that have a statistically insignificant failure rate. It should be noted that Rinnai manufacturer all their own components ignoring global sourcing and keeping quality in house. It is because of this superior engineering that Rinnai units can modulate down to 2.4kw whilst boasting 107% efficiency making them the most efficient water heaters on the market today.”
The guarantee of energy efficiencies and long term reliability gives peace of mind to the domestic and commercial users, to whom water heating is an integral part of the building envelope, while additionally in commercial settings there are ever increasing regulatory constraints such as eco-labelling and building regulations.

Yuji Omoto says “In recent years it may seem that attention has been focused on renewables, but it has become apparent this technology, on its own, really isn’t delivering ¬ – at least, not in its current form.

“Now, widespread consultation has decreed that a vast array of technologies and existing energy supplies is key to achieving reduction targets. An energy efficient continuous flow gas fired hot water system, whether teamed with renewables technology (solar thermal or a heat pump) or used on own, actually has a lot to offer as we move towards the Government’s carbon neutral goals. Rinnai Infinity units have been developed to exceed all current demands and lead the field in this respect.

“The downside to this recognition is that inferior water heaters are beginning to appear on the market and they appear to have varying standards of quality in their manufacture. This is where the end user needs to take on board that a quality-built system which uses only the best components available and is precision engineered, is technically advanced and fit for purpose should be the defining criteria at time of purchase and any thought of buying on price alone should be challenged. After all, you get what you pay for…..”

Rinnai’s motto ‘Quality is our Destiny’ epitomises its healthy corporate obsession with quality. The basis for manufacturing and all aspects of the process at Rinnai is to think and act from a scientific perspective and the result is a market-oriented production system that combines policy management, quality control, and continuous improvement.

The process starts at Rinnai’s Japanese factories where stringent quality control protocols have been put in place that apply to the selection of the raw material from the smallest components through manufacture and assembly to delivery and after sales.

Rinnai applies Monozukuri technology and work methodology to its environmentally-friendly manufacturing activities. ‘Monozukuri’ applied to manufacturing and production means the ‘art, science and craft of making things’ and can be compared with the English word ‘craftmanship’. With this philosophy entrenched throughout the company Rinnai strives to add quality to its products from the design stage, mainly through simulations and applies verification methods to identify points for improvement and to prevent potential problems from ever happening.

Quality, innovative infinity heavy duty condensing water heaters* designed to be fit for purpose use two heat exchangers to capture residual heat from flue gases to pre-heat incoming water, and can deliver up to 107% net efficiency. Installers should also beware of appliances that even though they may claim HE technology in their publicity this is exemplified by burners that only modulate down to 6-7 KW. Burners on superior units using pre-mix technology can self-modulate down to an unbeatable 2.4 kW.

The design of the water heater, components and the engineering itself must be of the best quality available. It pays to research key specification and country of origin.

A technologically advanced PCB system ensures intelligent functionality, including temperature accurate hot water delivery, gas modulation guaranteeing efficient gas usage, numerous safety features for user comfort and control as well as error messaging and BMS interfacing. On a quality unit, the circuit board itself will be cased in silicone as a fail safe in the unlikely event of a leak the ‘brains’ of the unit are protected.

If installers and end users stick to the ‘quality is best’ rule they should be safeguarded in their choice. “The Rinnai system is obviously working as we have so few defects occur in product output. The company produced 6 million continuous flow water heaters in 2014 – a massive achievement,” concludes Yuji Omoto.

For more details on RINNAI products visit www.rinnaiuk.com

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