McDonald Engineers Launch its ECOflow Heat Pump Cylinder
Filed under: Multifuel Hot Water System, heat pump cylinder, hot water cylinder
ECOflow Heat Pump Cylinders
McDonald Engineers has become the first UK manufacturer to launch an off the shelf hot water cylinder, specifically designed to work with heat pump technology.
The launch of its ECOflow unvented cylinder for heat pumps comes as a result of the growing demand it’s receiving from heat pump installers across the UK and beyond, who are looking for a tried and tested solution which is available as an off-the-shelf product, which comes with all the connections required for heat pump installations as standard.
Based on its market leading POWERflow 2000 unvented copper cylinder, ECOflow also comes pre-fitted with McDonald Engineers’ high performance heat pump copper coil and is insulated with a white cased finish delivering a GWP rating of <1. An optional integrated buffer vessel, which sits below the cylinder offers the advantage of a small footprint which suits many architects and specifiers who have limited space to work with.
McDonald Engineers’ Sales Director, Jamie Stewart, explained, “We have been making bespoke heat pumps cylinders for many years, however as the renewable energy market has grown, more clients have been asking for a standardised solution which offers the cost savings associated with larger production runs.”
He continued, “Copper hot water cylinders are widely recognised as the best and most cost effective solution to be used in conjunction with heat pumps. A leading heat pump manufacturer reckoned using an ECOflow type cylinder could save up to £180 per year on running costs. This is a hugely significant factor in ensuring the customer is given the best and cheapest to run unit.
The copper hot water cylinder market has already been given a major boost by Heat Pump manufacturers. Many recommending their products be used in conjunction with copper hot water cylinders due to the superior heat transfer properties offered by the material, as well as its bacteria killing properties and its recyclability.
The company has already received a positive response from existing clients and hopes to develop its position in the growing renewable energy market even further.
McDonald Engineers has been manufacturing hot water cylinders and supplying the UK and further afield from its base in Scotland since 1945. They have been at the forefront of hot water cylinder development for renewable energy applications for the last 4 decades.
For more information on McDonald Engineers and its full range of hot water cylinders visit www.mcdonald-engineers.com
McDonald Announce Partnership with Strathclyde University
Filed under: Copper Cylinder, McDonald Engineers News, hot water cylinder
In partnership with Strathclyde University
McDonald Engineers, one of the UK’s leading manufacturers of copper hot water cylinders, has embarked upon a two year KTP (Knowledge Transfer Partnership) with Strathclyde University as the company looks to enhance its position in the energy market.
The partnership will enable McDonald Engineers to call upon the extensive knowledge and practical industry experience of the University’s team and in return will offer its insight into the commercial pressures that are prevalent in the construction and energy markets.
The company has joined forces with the university’s Advanced Forming Research Centre to initially examine ways in which McDonald Engineers can streamline its production facility. And whilst one aim of the project is to improve quality and lead times in the company’s production facility, a key outcome will be the launch of an exciting new product which will open up new doors for McDonald Engineers.
Managing Director of McDonald Engineers, Bill Stewart, explained, “We have a long and proud history as one of the leading manufacturers of superior quality hot water cylinders. Our partnership with Strathclyde University enables us to tap into an incredible resource that allows us access to techniques and strategies from some of the top companies in the world.”
Bill continued, “This is a tremendously exciting period for the company as we look to build on over 65 years of success as a family owned and managed business. I have no doubt this partnership will ensure our success continues for many generations to come.”
The partnership will be led by Graham Smyth, who has been appointed as KTP Associate to project manage the venture and will be based at McDonald Engineers’ Glenrothes headquarters. Graham has joined McDonald Engineers after spending 2 successful years as a Design Engineer in the Irish quarry industry.
Graham said, “One of McDonald Engineers’ key strengths is the passion every member of the team has for delivering a quality product and a world class service. Their willingness to embrace new ideas and tackle challenges head on is exactly what is needed when you take on a project like this and I am delighted to be involved.”
For more information on the range of products and services offered by McDonald Engineers visit www.mcdonald-engineers.com or contact their technical sales team on 01592 611123.
PLATEflow system scores top marks by controlling peak flow rates in school sports centre
PLATEflow Hot Water Cylinder
Pupils were not the only ones to gain top marks in school recently as McDonald Engineers helped a client who was faced with the challenge of providing a buffer for a short period of peak demand linked with a Plate Heat Exchanger to provide a steady flow rate.
McDonald Engineers worked with the client, providing their expert advice and guidance to assess all the alternatives before developing the perfect solution using their PLATEflow system.
McDonald Engineers’ Sales Director, Jamie Stewart, explained “At McDonald Engineers we like to put all the available options down on the table and come up with the best possible solution for our clients. It’s our ability to listen to our clients requirements, remain flexible and provide the best solution based on the situation at hand that keeps them returning time and time again.”
The result was to supply a PLATEflow unit with a 550 Litre Vented Grade 2 cylinder and Plate Heat Exchanger. Thanks to the off-site pre-assembly the contractor was able to dramatically reduce installation time.
The McDonalds PLATEflow system is specifically designed to supply hot water in situations where demand can vary over the course of a day and is ideal for use within hotels, hospitals, factories and in this case, a School Sports Centre in Edinburgh. It effectively decreases the amount of stored hot water required, while still delivering peak flow rates as demanded.
And with the PLATEflow system there are plenty of options available to offer. The PLATEflow can be supplied as either a vented, tank fed unit, or is suitable for unvented applications, when fed from the mains or a boosted cold water supply.
To find out more on the McDonald Engineers PLATEflow system visit www.mcdonald-engineers.com or call their technical sales team on 01592 611123.
McDonald Engineers’ Custom Cylinders Save Money on Large Thermal Store Contract
Filed under: Copper Cylinder, Thermal Store, hot water cylinder
THERMflow Thermal Stores from McDonald Engineers
Dispelling the myth that bespoke cylinders are just for one-off projects, McDonald Engineers has enabled one Scottish Local Authority to save a significant amount of time and installation costs on a project which required over 400 thermal stores.
By working closely with the project team, McDonald Engineers were able to re- position several key connections on its standard THERMflow Thermal Store, to suit the incoming pipework and make it easier for the installation team to access.
In doing so, the installation team were able to install the cylinders much quicker and with less materials, saving time, money and hassle on site.
McDonald Engineers’ Sales Director, Jamie Stewart, explained, “Our flexible manufacturing process is renowned for being able to produce one off cylinders quickly and efficiently. However there is a growing client base, who now realise the enormous benefits that can be achieved just by tweaking the design of existing products for large volume contracts.”
He continued, “By making simple changes, such as repositioning the connections, clients can achieve significant time and material savings. When you add up all the savings, whether it is on a contract of 20 homes or 20,000 cylinder installations, it’s easy to see how much can be saved.”
To see how much you could save, contact our technical sales team on 01592 611123.
Dual Coil Calorifiers Installed for Department for Communities and Local Government
Filed under: Calorifier, Copper Cylinder, Electric Wet Central Heating System, Multifuel Hot Water System, Unvented Cylinder, Vented Mains Pressure System, heat pump cylinder
McDonald Engineers’ expertise in delivering energy efficient hot water systems for commercial environments, was put to the test by the Department for Communities and Local Government at their headquarters in central London.
Four Calorifiers at Eland House
With a total focus on energy efficiency by the design team at Eland House, formerly the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, McDonald Engineers manufactured and supplied four dual coil POWERflow commercial calorifiers for the refurbishment project.
The 1320 litre calorifiers were designed to work with two fuel sources. A Heat Pump was being used as the primary heat source and the units were therefore fitted with a high efficiency copper heat exchanger, to maximise the heat transfer from the heat pump’s lower flow temperature. A back up heat exchanger, for a normal boiler was added, to supplement the energy when required.
In line with the latest recommendations from many heat pump manufacturers, both the cylinders and the coils were manufactured from copper. This provides significant benefits in terms of maximum heat transfer, as well as boasting superior bacteria killing properties.
McDonald Engineers’ Sales Director, Jamie Stewart, explained “As more projects aim to maximise the energy efficiency of the hot water system, we are seeing a rise in enquiries from companies installing heat pumps who recognise that copper can deliver superior results.”
He continued, ” Copper is fast becoming the material of choice for hot water systems using multiple fuel sources such as heat pumps. Copper’s thermal conductivity is almost 30 times greater than that of Stainless Steel. This means it can heat water to higher temperatures in a far shorter period of time.”
With access to the boiler room extremely limited by doorway space, but a specified amount of storage required, McDonald Engineers were provided with the maximum dimensions that would fit. The company ensured every millimetre was utilised, by manufacturing the cylinders to extremely tight tolerances. The Calorifiers were then lagged on site.
Jamie added, “The client was delighted with the end result and our ability to maximise the size, commenting that if there had been a coat of paint on the cylinder, it would not have gone through the door.”
For details on McDonald Engineers’ heat pump cylinders click here or contact us for more information
Unvented Cylinders Experience Dramatic Growth In Demand From Refurb Market
Filed under: Copper Cylinder, Unvented Cylinder, hot water cylinder
Unvented cylinder systems are now experiencing an unprecedented growth in the replacement market, as many installers recognising that a combi system isn’t always the best choice.
Since figures published by the Hot Water Association in 2008, showed that mains pressure hot water systems, reached close to half of the total hot water storage market, for the very first time, the growth has continued as changing demands favour the benefits offered by unvented systems.
Whilst combi systems can provide an instantaneous hot water solution, very few can exceed 20 litres per minute, or cope with demand from multiple outlets.
McDonald Engineers Sales Director, Jamie Stewart, explained ” Modern households are expecting their hot water systems to be capable of delivering more hot water, at higher flow rates, simultaneously to multiple outlets and with limited loss of performance.”
He continued, “As a result we have seen enquiries for our POWERflow 2000 unvented cylinder rise considerably from installers, house builders and local authorities who are beginning to question the attractiveness of the combi system. We have also seen a dramatic increase in sales of our THERMflow Thermal Storage Unit. This gives the benefits of Mains Pressure Hot Water at the tap, but with a Vented Store. This type of unit is ideal for all boilers and can also be used when people have an additional Solid Fuel heat source.”
To find out more about the POWERflow 2000 Unvented Mains Pressure and THERMflow Thermal Storage range, visit www.mcdonald-engineers.com, or contact our technical sales team on 01592 611123
Making Solar Water Heating Solutions Easy With SOLARsave
Filed under: Renewable Energy Cylinders, Unvented Cylinder, hot water cylinder, solar cylinders
McDonald Engineers has made solar hot water systems easy with its SOLARsave pre-plumbed unit which features a high performance dual coil copper cylinder with all the major components pre-fitted and pre-wired for a quick and easy installation.
Available in vented and WRAS approved unvented cylinders, the SOLARsave unit comes supplied with a Solar Differential Controller pre-plumbed to the solar coil. Simply connect the flow & return and solar sensor from the differential controller, along with a solar expansion vessel and relief valve and your solar system is ready to use.
McDonald Engineers’s Sales Director, Jamie Stewart, said “Whilst we have an extensive portfolio of expert solar installers who recognise the benefits from high quality copper cylinders in solar thermal solutions, we were receiving a growing number of enquiries from plumbing contractors who wanted a complete ‘plumb and go’ solution.”
He continued, ” SOLARsave not only makes the specification of the hot water system simple, the pre-fitted and prewired components dramatically reduce the installation time of the system, making it easy and accessible to a far greater number of installation contractors.”
McDonald Engineers also offers its full range of thermal stores, unvented cylinders and calorifiers now available with solar compatibility.
For more information visit www.mcdonald-engineers.com or call 01592 611123.
Taking Alternative Fuel Hot Water Solutions To A New Level
Filed under: Multifuel Hot Water System, Renewable Energy Cylinders, Unvented Cylinder
McDonald Engineers has been at the forefront of hot water systems for decades and, as well as an extensive range of products available for immediate despatch, have established a reputation in the market place, for being the specialists in bespoke hot water cylinders for multi-fuel and alternative fuel applications.
So when a specialist contractor was developing a pre fabricated toilet and wash block for a project being shipped to Africa, which needed to heat the water by burning the waste from the toilets in an incinerator, McDonald Engineers was their first port of call.
With the African climate requiring a comparatively lower level of hot water storage, McDonalds developed and supplied eight bespoke 75 litre POWERflow 2000 Unvented Cylinders to accommodate the fuel source, using its high performance coils for maximum heat transfer.
McDonald Engineers Project Manager, Dean Morrison, explained “Whilst we have manufactured a large number of bespoke cylinders with a multitude of fuels, from solar thermal to heat pumps, this is by far the most unusual fuel source we have ever worked with.”
He continued, “Most importantly the client is delighted with the end result and it goes to show the flexibility of the company, as well our ability to develop solutions that can transfer the heat from virtually any fuel source.”
To find out more on McDonald Engineers range of POWERflow 2000 unvented cylinders call 01592 611123 or contact us now.
McDonald Engineers Save The Day with Emergency Alterations to Calorifier
Filed under: Calorifier, Copper Cylinder, McDonald Engineers News
McDonald Engineers has demonstrated exactly why they are one of the UK’s most respected manufacturers of hot water systems, by immediately despatching a service engineer to alter a connection on a new 1800 litre POWERflow Commercial calorifier on site.
McDonald Engineers had manufactured the Calorifier as per the specification for Perth Grammar School. However the installation team identified that one of the thermostatic controls, required a larger connection than normal and were faced with a major problem that would normally have meant sending the calorifier back to the manufacturer for alteration.
After assessing the level of work involved the McDonald Engineers service team were on site within a matter of hours to rectify the problem and enable the installation team to have the calorifier installed and operational the same day.
McDonald Engineers’ Sales Director, Jamie Stewart, explained “Whilst McDonald Engineers is renowned for our superior quality products and our fast turnaround times, our clients enjoy the world class service that we can offer, from the initial design stages, right through to onsite installation support and aftercare service.”
He continued, “This type of situation doesn’t happen often, but when it does we are extremely quick to respond, as we understand the implications an installation delay can cause. Our response on this occasion shows our uncompromising commitment to customer service.”
McDonald Engineers offer a large range of Calorifiers and Buffer Vessels with up to 3500 litres capacity within their standard range. These can be adapted for heat pump or solar thermal input however the company’s flexible manufacturing system, means that they can accommodate almost any size, shape or configuration.
For more information on the Calorifier range and the full range of hot water cylinders and systems available from McDonald Engineers, contact us now or call 01592 611123.
Hospitals Turn to Copper’s Health Properties to Reduce Spread of Infections
McDonald Engineers has welcomed news that an Irish hospital will be the first in the world to use copper door handles to reduce infections associated with the healthcare industry, such as MRSA. This further promotes the superior health and hygienic properties of copper.
The announcement follows on from the highly successful trials carried out at Selly Oak hospital in Birmingham. These demonstrated the use of copper surfaces, such as taps, toilet seats and door push plates, can reduce microbial contamination by 90-100%.
As one of the UK’s largest manufacturers of copper cylinders, McDonald Engineers has been promoting the superior hygienic properties of its copper hot water cylinders and calorifiers in all sectors. There has been a growing usage in the healthcare and education sectors thanks to the increased awareness of copper’s bacteria killing properties.
Tests on copper surfaces show that over 99.9% of specific bacteria (including the MRSA superbug) are killed within just 2 hours. It is no wonder than many healthcare architects and specifiers are looking towards copper as the material of choice for hot water cylinders, in the many refurbishment projects planned for NHS Trusts throughout 2010.
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