Speedheat Rises To Chilly Challenge
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If you think it’s starting to turn chilly here, spare a thought for those living and working on a scientific research base in the freezing Antarctic! Keeping warm in temperatures that can plunge to -50oC in the long, dark winters is not a choice for the team on the South African National Antarctic Expedition (SANAE) IV research station. It’s a matter of survival.
But as the Antarctic summer begins when temperatures can rise to a positively balmy -5oC, the opportunity is being taken to install extra comfort, thanks to the ingenuity of electrical underfloor heating specialist, Speedheat.
The base is on Vesleskarvet (Norwegian for little barren mountain) on the Ahlmann Ridge, about 100 miles from the coast. Its three modules are on stilts to keep them clear of the deep snows of an Antarctic winter.
The electricity supply is powered by diesel generators, and any waste heat from these goes into heat exchangers to provide most of the warmth to the inside of the modules.
But this method of heating is difficult to control so, as part of a renovation project, Speedheat’s advanced floor heating system has been chosen to provide supplementary, thermostatically-controlled warmth in two of the two-storey modules. The third houses a helicopter and the generators and does not require additional heating.
Different wattage mats of Speedheat’s unique cabling have been specifically designed for the different final floorings chosen for the base, such as bamboo laminate, vinyl and tiles.
Speedheat has given full installation and commissioning training to the contractors in Cape Town who are laying flooring for SANAE IV. Contractors, flooring and the entire heating system are now on their way by ship and the fitters will return towards the end of February 2016.
This is not the first extreme Speedheat installation. The company has quite literally gone to the both ends of the world from North to South as it has also been selected to supply floor heating for crew accommodation on Statoil Norway’s Aasta Hansteen gas rig in the deep waters of the Norwegian Sea.
At just 1.5mm deep and with no major installation upheaval, the system has also been the choice for historic buildings in the UK, such as the extraordinary Durlston Castle in Dorset, new builds, sensitive conversions and for a home with a solar energy supply. It is equally comfortable in a conservatory, a single cold spot or as the primary heating for an entire building.
Said Joan Pentland, managing director of Speedheat UK: “We have always known that every installation is different and that Speedheat floor heating can be designed to suit any space. The SANAE IV contract, awarded through our South African base, proves it.
“It is a remarkable project that demonstrates the versatility and adaptability of the system, whether for a British home, in a castle, for a hotel or offices, a rig out at sea or in one of the coldest places on earth.”
