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S Plan Open Vented Heating System Including Solar Input
Auxiliary
central
heating
Solar
controller
Expansion
vessel
Pressure
relief
Solar pumping station
Min. 250mm
Y Plan Sealed Primary Heating System Including Solar Input
Auxiliary
central
heating
Solar
controller
Expansion
vessel
Pressure
relief
Solar pumping station
Sealed
system
kit
INSTALLATION
INSTALLATION
TORRENT GREENHEAT SOL
TORRENT GREENHEAT SOL
For maximising the use of the renewable ‘green’ energy, the system should be managed
and controlled so that unnecessary firing of the boiler is kept to a minimum. This can be
achieved by a combination of householder use of the system and controls, for example;
Use the store to provide shower or a bath to utilise the heat gained by the system
from the previous day’s solar energy input. Alternatively showering or bathing in the
evening will utilise the energy that has been stored during the day from the solar
system.
• As with any system, hot water and space heating should be programmed according
to house holder requirements. However it is always good to remember that to gain
maximum advantage from the solar panels, the store should be as cool as possible,
prior to expected periods of high solar gain. To achieve this in spring, summer and
autumn, the hot water channel of the boiler should be programmed to come on 30
minutes before the hot water is required in the morning and then programmed off
before volumes of water are drawn off the system. This way the store is depleted
of heat allowing maximum transfer from the solar system during the day.
• However further supplementary time periods for the boiler will be required in
winter when not much solar energy is available.
• Uncontrolled boiler operation can also be reduced by fitting and wiring a pipe
thermostat on the solar return pipe close to the Torrent SOL.
As part of setup and commissioning, it is important that this boiler hold-off pipe
thermostat be adjusted to find the best setting for each individual installation.
Failure to do so will give under performance of either the boiler or the solar heating
system.
To ensure effective operation of the thermal store it must not be overheated. The
overheat thermostat should be set at a temperature which operates before or at 85°C.
Please see page 23 for further information.
A solid fuel boiler can also be connected to the Torrent GreenHeat SOL, please refer
to page 20 for further information.
Solar heating circuit
The Torrent SOL is an advanced thermal store
and has been designed to incorporate existing
boiler and central heating controls and is based
on the tried and tested standard Torrent range.
Therefore general design requirements for
hot and cold water systems, for ball valve and
overflow, for water treatment and for heating
system design should be taken into account
when designing the Torrent SOL based systems.
The diagram opposite shows the Torrent SOL
type used in a traditional open vented heating
system. The water level in the F&E tank should
be at least 250mm above the highest point of
the heating system e.g. a radiator.
In the open vented system shown opposite,
the thermal store, radiator heating circuit and
the auxilliary heating circuit are all fed from
the same feed and expansion tank. Therefore it
should be sized to accommodate the expansion
of total water content of the complete system
(i.e. water content of the store + water content
of radiator heating c water content of
under-floor heating circuit).
The diagram opposite shows the sealed
primary ‘SP’ variant of the Torrent SOL used
in a typical sealed heating system. With this
system arrangement, although the boiler and
the radiator central heating circuits are sealed,
both the store and the auxilliary heating circuit
(if installed) are open vented. Therefore the
feed and expansion tank should be sized to
accommodate the expansion of total water
content of the open vented system (i.e. water
content of the store + water content of under-
floor heating circuit).
The diagrams also show typical configurations
of a solar thermal system with Torrent SOL,
which will accumulate the energy from more
than one renewable energy sources (e.g. solar,
wood burning stove).
In the open vented system, this energy is
available for hot water and at low level for both
radiator and under-floor (if installed) space
heating circuits. However in the sealed primary
system configuration, this energy is only
available for hot water and at low levels for the
under-floor space heating circuit (if installed).
