heat on-demand for water and heating

Today, 18.9% of Europe’s total energy consumption comes from renewable sources. But renewables often come from irregular sources, such as wind or solar, which means it’s vital that we create ways to store energy to use when required. Aalberts has created just such a product, enabling heat in homes to be stored and then used on-demand to provide hot water and central heating.

heat when needed
Engineers at Aalberts have developed a heat-storage solution known as FlexTherm, an essential product in the energy transition. FlexTherm uses inorganic salts as phase change materials rather than water, and when the salt is heated to 75C via an electric element it becomes liquid. When someone in the house turns on the hot water tap, the salt cools down and gives off the energy to water-filled exchangers, which supply hot tap water. The system stores heat when electricity is cheaply available, and requires three times less space than conventional water storage tanks.

eco-buildings
Aalbert is currently trialling FlexTherm at The Green Village in the Netherlands. The project is called the Dreamhûs. One of the challenges society currently faces is making older houses, such as those constructed in the 1970s, more sustainable and energy efficient. The Dreamhûs project is a scalable, affordable concept that can be used in standard (terraced) houses. Harnessing cheap and efficient energy is one of society’s great challenges, and we are determined to help advance technologies within this area through products such as FlexTherm.