Over the next ten years, the Birchwood Hotel in Johannesburg will save an estimated R15.5 million in water heating costs thanks to solar water heating. Selected Energy, a proud member of SESSA, installed 64 standalone solar water heaters and one centralised commercial system to meet the water heating requirements of a new development on the Birchwood estate. The installation will supply 212 suites with 100 litres of hot water each.

According to project manager, Chris Elliott, two 300-litre solar water heaters will provide hot water to six rooms. The centralised system was necessitated by partial shading on the roof of one of the buildings.

"We opted for the Heat Store system on part of the installation, because the roof space we had at our disposal was partially shaded. The un-shaded surface was too small for the amount of 300-litre Solahart solar geysers we would have had to install to provide the same amount of hot water," said Elliott.

"The entire project took just over two weeks to complete. We're very happy with how quickly it rolled out," he said.

"Birchwood sales director Kevin Clarence was sceptical about how the aesthetic appeal of the tanks. We matched the colour of the tanks to the colour of the roof by covering them with a black sleeve, thereby putting his mind at ease," concluded Elliott.

Selected Energy's commercial division provides water heating solutions for large scale projects like hotels, mines and factories.

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