Posts from February, 2012
Couple’s bright future with energy saving gadget
Jan 25 2012by Neil Hodgson, Heswall News
A WIRRAL couple’s energy-saving gadget is about to hit the big time, making the perfect gift for their wedding this Saturday.
David Furlong and Lisa Thomson run Mole Engineering in Upton and have worked for three years and invested £200,000 on their CombiSave device which saves water and fuel costs on combination boilers.
It can take up to a minute for a conventional combi-boiler to heat water, wasting water and gas.
But the CombiSave valve can slash waiting time and tests at the University of Salford’s ‘Energy House’ laboratory found that it can save 55,000 litres of water a year – worth £140 for anyone on a water meter – and cut gas bills by between £50 to £100 a year.
The couple say the device could also be popular with housing associations throughout the UK.
Mr Furlong said: “We’d heard from many, many people with combi-boilers of their frustration at the time it was taking for water to run hot.
“In addition to the sight of water being wasted, they were also concerned, for example, that children were even less likely to wash their hands in the bathroom if they had to wait so long for hot water.”
As part of the trials more than 200 CombiSave valves were fitted for customers who were offered a full refund and removal if they found they were not making savings – no-one took up the offer and they are all still in place.
Tests on CombiSave by the University of Salford will be showcased at this week’s Retrofit 2012 conference at Salford Quays which attracts academics, businesses and policy-makers from around the world.
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