Thermann is one of the fastest-growing hot water brands in the country, and we are always looking to support our customers in their ability to recommend Thermann as a reliable solution to their clients.
With this in mind, Thermann was proud to provide hot water to The Block this year, exposing Thermann to an even larger homeowner and renovation audience. The Block is the number 1 renovation television show in Australia with over 1.7M viewers per week.
This year The Block consisted of 5 large houses, each having 2 stories and between 3-5 bathrooms. In larger homes with multiple occupants, there is a greater chance of having multiple hot water outlets running at once.
It was crucial for the contestants to have fast hot water delivery while maintaining a consistent flow rate throughout both levels of the house.
Our Thermann technical support staff assisted the building and plumbing teams to find the best possible solution. They were also on hand to provide onsite training and support at every step of the production process, from the design through to final hand-over.
Thermann needed to provide a solution that was reliable, responsive and able to withstand high demands for hot water.
Enter the Thermann Performance Pack 1150.
With its 1,155L first-hour capacity and commercial-grade construction, the Performance Pack 1150 is more than capable at handling a massive demand for hot water. These impressive units are ideal for large residential homes with multiple bathrooms.
In order to deliver fast and consistent hot water across multiple outlets and floors, The Performance Pack 1150 was installed onto a 25mm flow and return or 'ring main' system.
By constantly pumping hot water around the home, the hot water pipe runs were designed to be as short as possible, significantly reducing hot water delivery time.
Because the Performance Pack 1150 is essentially a boosted storage tank, if the ring main fails, then the system is still able to provide high capacity hot water at mains pressure.
This was the ideal solution for the large homes featured on The Block.
While the running costs of servicing a ring main can be higher, several additions can be included into the system to reduce these costs.
For The Block, Thermann paired the ring main with a Grundfos Magna 3 smart pump. This pump has built-in smarts that allow it to learn the hot water habits of the house. Once programmed, the pump will increase flow at times of high demand, and then resort to its most economical setting when demand is low.
By running the system with a timed circulating pump system, running costs can be significantly reduced.
In addition, the ring main is heavily insulated to decrease heat loss, further increasing efficiency.
Larger homes tend have a greater demand for hot water, so the hot water solution needs to comfortably and reliably deliver results under increased strain.
The use of commercial products in residential homes is not a new idea, but it has increased in popularity as more innovations are made within the industry.
Customers want the peace of mind that comes with a reliable system. They don't need to worry about the issues that can arise from operating an overstressed domestic unit.
In many cases, to achieve the same performance of a commercial system, you would need to link together multiple residential systems, resulting in high running costs and increased wear on internal components.
Additionally, some states and territories (such as the ACT) are making it non-compliant to have multiple gas hot water units installed into a home. To combat this, more and more plumbers are installing ring main systems to maintain a consistent and timely supply of hot water.
A ring main system is generally classed as a commercial application, and many residential units* are either not covered or have a significantly reduced manufacturer's warranty on such an application.
