Press Release: As a semi-finalist in the eta awards in the Innovation Category, the Green Ceiling Heater figuratively makes money fall from your ceiling, says inventor, Kobus Engelbrecht, Managing Director of African Technical Innovations.

“The concept arose out of the fact that in South Africa’s climate we take great care to insulate our ceilings, primarily to keep the heat out in summer but also to keep the heat in during winter.  What happens though is that in winter our roofs are essentially a large solar panel and the air in the ceiling space heats up, but as a result of the insulation, it stays there!  This did not make any sense to me at all. That we spend a lot of money on gas and electric heating during winter, but that we have this trapped energy literally sitting in our ceilings going to waste!

“I began to calculate the value of this trapped energy and knew there had to be a way to use this free heating source in our homes, which would ultimately save the money we would have spent consuming electricity or gas to heat our homes.

“The Green Ceiling Heater is the result.  A roof space of 100m2 on an ordinary winter’s day generates the equivalent of 240kWh of heating.  The Green Ceiling Heater literally takes all that free heat and pumps it into the home.  This is the same as a 2kW heater running for 120 hours, every day.”

The innovative design is remarkably simple.  A standard blower fan is modified to include a temperature controller with two sensors.  One is below the ceiling in the living space and the other is above in the roof space.  The unit is installed in the manhole cover leading to the roof space. 

Running off a regular three-point plug and drawing only 40 Watts, the Green Ceiling Heater detects when the temperature of the living space is lower than that in the roof space and automatically switches on the fan to draw air from the roof space and blow it into the living area.  The temperature controller allows the home owner to set a comfortable temperature limit for inside the home and the Green Ceiling Heater will begin blowing in heat the moment the interior temperature drops below the set temperature.

Says Mr Engelbrecht:  “Because it operates on a forced flow principle, the Green Ceiling Heater can heat more than one room at a time.  Just open all the interior doors and it will continue to blow until the interior temperature reaches the set temperature.  In a 100m2 of roof space there is 300m3 of air, the heater can replace all this air every 12,8 minutes.

“What makes the product so amazing is that this 0,04kW heating fan can deliver 6.8kW of heat, that is 170 times more energy out than what we put in.  So in terms of efficient use of resources this has an efficiecy of about 1700%.”

In a country where sunshine is in abundance and, where, even in winter, our roof space can reach temperatures of 30 degrees, a little out-of-the-box thinking has delivered an innovation that can reduce your energy bills and save you money, all while protecting the environment and taking advantage of the “pot of gold” in your roof space. 

The eta Awards is sponsored annually by Eskom and is now in its twentieth year.  Endorsed by the Department of Energy, the eta Awards encourages all South African businesses to reduce the electricity they use as climate change is impacted on by energy use - the more energy used, the greater the impact of greenhouse gases and carbon dioxide on the atmosphere.

More about the eta Awards:
The prestigious annual eta Awards are sponsored by Eskom and are aimed at recognising excellence by individuals and companies in the field of energy efficiency.

To find out more about how your company can enter the eta Awards, visit www.eta-awards.co.za To find out more about the ceiing heater contact: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it