Mixergy, the smart hot water tank company, has upgraded its entire range of hot water cylinders to allow them to operate with a heat pump at any point during their working life. Once fitted, the multi-use cylinders, which can be used with a gas boiler, mains electricity or solar PV, now give consumers the option to install a heat pump without having to replace the tank.
The Mixergy tank is made from high-grade stainless steel to ensure that it lasts at least 25 years. The design team was determined to avoid product obsolescence and prepare the householder for a low carbon future whether using direct electric heating, heat pumps or hydrogen boilers.
Mixergy’s smart hot water tanks use innovative technology to optimise energy use. Using thermal stratification to prevent hot water mixing with cold, Mixergy tanks heat only the water required instead of the whole tank at once when operating with direct electric, gas or PV. This approach, combined with the use of AI techniques that learn to heat water only when it is needed, can save consumers up to 20% on their hot water bills.
When connecting a heat pump, installers simply fit the Mixergy Heat Transfer Module (HTM) , which uses an external plate heat exchanger assembly and circulation pump to achieve a more efficient heat transfer and improved volumetric performance. The HTM boosts the heat pump’s coefficient of performance (COP) by up to 10% for water heating whilst the tank is able to store up to 20% more hot water within the same installation volume compared to a coil heated tank.
“The government has set a target for 600,000 heat pump installations per year by 2028, which the industry agrees is a challenging goal,” said Dr Pete Armstrong, chief executive officer and co-founder, Mixergy. “By developing a heat-pump ready cylinder, we are offering householders a way to upgrade their water tank now, connect it to their existing boiler and be ready if they choose to install a heat pump in the future. The same tank will continue to work if the gas boiler is upgraded to work with hydrogen or if the customer decides to go all-electric with PV and a smart tariff. Fundamentally, we believe that there are multiple paths to net zero and we are determined that our tanks should be equipped for all without needing to be replaced. This saves money and hassle whilst eliminating the environmental impact of product obsolescence.”
The Mixergy cylinder is also available as a slim-line version, which is the smallest heat-pump cylinder on the market, and comes with a 25 year warranty.
As well as its multi-use features, Mixergy tanks offer smart scheduling controls through an app and are internet-connected to enable them to work with smart time-of-use energy tariffs, so that consumers have the option to heat their water when electricity prices are low or even negative.
Mixergy’s solution was the first domestic hot water product to be certified by National Grid to provide grid flexibility services. Mixergy is working with Centrica to deploy thousands of smart hot water tanks as part of Centrica’s 2.5GW virtual power plant.
Mixergy tanks already deliver more than a megawatt of Demand Side Response (DSR) service to the National Grid, time shifting demand to help balance the grid and facilitate the uptake of renewable energy generation.
