Thermal energy is the biggest component of the energy consumed in the build environment.

As heat is mostly required during peak demand times, it also adds approximately 38% to the peak demand. Using electricity to heat is not efficient, therefore alternatives like solar power is not only the better choice, but contributes to the change for less polluting energy use.

At Holms and Friends we combine good understanding of the user requirements, proper design, demand side management, a controlled construction with training, monitoring and verification to achieve award winning solutions. Although the payback period might sometimes be slightly longer, the Life Cycle Cost and Levelized Cost of Electricity outperform other strategies by far.

Our projects include domestic, commercial and industrial systems. The largest South African unglazed system (pool heating) of 1.080m² and the currently largest glazed flat collector system (700m²), are among those designed and constructed by Holms and Friends. Systems also include high pressure vacuum tube collectors.

The projects have different backup systems, depending on the circumstances. This could include: electrical resistance heating, heat pumps, gas burners, diesel boilers and wood burners for instance. The latest projects combine heat pumps.