| Horstmann Controls Limited,
the UK’s leading independent designer and manufacturer
of residential heating control equipment has won the contract
to supply its ThermoPlus programmable room thermostat for heating
systems installed under the Defra funded national Warm Front
scheme.
The innovative ThermoPlus room ‘stat range was developed
by Horstmann following research carried out by the National
Energy Action charity (NEA) which identified problems with
time and temperature controls fitted to Warm Front heating
systems. NEA discovered that users found existing thermostats
difficult or complicated to use, and as such, they were not
achieving optimum efficiency from the heating system.
Horstmann Controls solution was to develop a completely new
design concept for a programmable room thermostat using its
‘AS’ Technology approach.
The resulting controller was installed in 30 homes of householders
who were having heating systems installed for the first time.
The trial took place early in 2005 and feed back from specifiers,
householders and installers resulted in the ThermoPlus being
developed and now manufactured in production quantities in
Horstmann Controls’ South Bristol factory.
ThermoPlus incorporates 5 pre-installed heating programmes
and the design has incorporated features such as colour coded
LED warm and cool display, automatic winter and summer time
change as well as Braille markings and frost protection.
The features make the unit easy for the installer to set
programmes to suit the lifestyle of the house holder and easy
for the householder to efficiently control comfort levels
in their home. It gives the accuracy and range of programmes
available with digital devices together with the simplicity
of mechanical units.
The product is now available from Horstmann and will be installed
in many households having heating systems installed under
the Warm Front initiative
Tim Acton, commercial manager at Horstmann Controls comments;
“We are delighted that our solution to the problem was
deemed the best by the assessment panel. For some time Horstmann
designer’s have been looking at simplifying the ease-of-use
features of room thermostats and programmers and the ThermoPlus
project acted as a catalyst for our thinking.”
Similarly, Arthur Scott, technical manager at NEA is enthusiastic.
“Many Warm Front heating installations are for the
over 60’s who often have physical or visual impairments
and therefore to ensure they get the very best out of the
heating installation, its programmer must be easy to use by
all. Certainly, the Horstmann solution more than meets that
criteria and will make life easier for many thousands of users.”
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