“This environmentally-friendly ThermoWise heat pump, which meets the requirements of Eskom’s specifications to enable users to qualify for various rebates, has been installed at the Winburg prison to reduce electricity consumption and to minimise maintenance requirements of the establishment’s water heating system,” Arnold Retief, director of Ai-TEC, says. “The energy efficient water heating system is gentle on the environment and uses approximately a third of the electricity normally required with standard resistance heating.”
This air to water heat pump, which has replaced the existing geyser elements, uses atmospheric temperatures (as low as – 10°C) for heating water. Although the fluctuation in atmospheric temperature affects the heating capacity of the system, the water in the storage tank is always heated sufficiently.