The Mistral System for Heating is designed to give a full performance related package which will take into account annual efficiency, environmental and economic considerations, energy consumption and emissions, as well as give you the comfort of still being able to get the hot water and warmth needed for a comfortable living.

We have chosen a number of individual products which combined will give a bespoke system to many more people at an affordable price.

Mistral cannot stress enough the importance of having a back up system to ensure that you as a family can maintain hot water and heating for 12 months of the year, not just 10 months.

Unless your accommodation is entirely up to building regulation standard, it is likely the renewables you may install (Air or Ground Source Heat Pumps) will not live up to your expectation all year round and it is normal to back this up with either a biomass boiler, or more likely you may have a gas or oil boiler which can serve the purpose for this short period of time during extremes of winter.

Main Components of The System

Buffer Tank

Can be anything from 200 up to 5000 litres of water and will act as a top up for your normal hot water cylinder or, as it is pre - heated from solar, an economic start to your heating system.

Obviously, the larger the store, the more heat is available for stored solar water and subsequently a lower energy consumption from heat energy sources.

To get the benefit of the system the Buffer tanks are triple coiled and made to take a variety of different heat providers.

Air Source Heat Pumps

We have selected the ASHP as the main heat provider for the 'Mistral Combo' system taking into account the average COP of 4/1, the ease of installation and the economic gains, as well as the obvious advantages of reducing carbon emissions.

They basically work on the principle of removing heat from the air and returning this heat into usable heat for the provision of hot water or heating. Standard models come in approximate sizes of 3kw, 8kw and 12kw.

They can also be linked in series.

The efficiency of the ASHP however does starts to decline when the temperature falls below 5OC and we feel that as with most renewable systems, it is far better to be backed up by another source of heat such as a Pellet boiler, or alternatively Gas or Oil Burners.

Ground Source Heat Pump

A GSHP can also be used as the main heat provider if preferred, it is likely to give a better overall performance in efficiency than the ASHP, however it has to be taken into account that the installation is usually quite substantial and this affects the overall cost of outlay.

These also work on the principle of extracting the heat from below ground and converting this energy into usable heat for hot water or heating.

Pellet Boilers

Carbon neutral biomass boilers are a cost effective way of reducing your carbon footprint.

Pellet boilers have also moved on substantially since their introduction and can now come with self cleaning, de-ashing or low maintenance models from 15 - 45kw.

They are also available as an outdoor model with added frost protection.

Pellet boilers can also be used either as primary heat providers or a secondary back up to the main system.

Back up Boilers

The best back up boilers available at the present time are still the traditional Gas, LPG or Oil boilers and there is nothing stopping you from using these to support any renewable system which you may be considering.

Summary

The 'Mistral Combo' package has been designed to provide a system which can take the best of the current technology which is affordable and match this with the traditional methods of producing hot water and heating requirements in order that everyone can be satisfied that a balance has been struck between economical, environmentally friendly, highly efficient products and the need for the hot water and heating demand required by your family, to still be satisfied all year round.