Fond mobile flottant & économiseur d’énergie
Les piscines sont un espace de loisirs prisé, que ce soit pour se reposer ou pour se maintenir en forme. Malheureusement elles sont également quelque peu consommatrices d’énergie à proprement parler. Un des moyens d’effectuer des économies d’énergie est possible lorsque l’on installe un fond mobile. Comment peut-il contribuer à économiser de l’énergie ? D’un point de vue relatif à son aspect purement fonctionnel, un fond mobile est un équipement qui permet l’utilisation d’un bassin de piscine à différentes profondeurs ce qui favorise, d’une part, l’optimisation d’occupation de l’espace en eau ainsi que la sécurisation des enfants & des non-nageurs & d’autre part, une économie d’énergie.
Il existe essentiellement 2 systèmes de fonctionnement pour ce type d’équipement. Le premier consiste en l’élévation par poussée ou l’abaissement par traction du fond mobile dans un bassin en eau à l’aide d’un moteur électrique qui coordonne un système de broches ou de ciseaux. Le second permet d’être + économique grâce à la mise en œuvre d’un fond mobile flottant qu’il suffit de tirer vers le bas pour le changer de position. Cette action est possible grâce à des vérins hydrauliques qui tirent sur des câbles ; ce système écarte la nécessité d’utiliser des composants électriques ou électromécaniques dans ou près de l’eau. Le grand avantage d’un fond mobile est également sa stabilité (160 kilos par mètre carré) car il est soutenu par des blocs flottants qui sont uniformément répartis sous la surface totale du plancher ; en outre, cette configuration autorise une surface plane avec une grande portée dans les plus grandes piscines.
Un fond mobile flottant représente la plus grande valeur d’isolation et permet d’économiser de l’énergie en empêchant l’eau de refroidir trop vite. Lorsqu’il est positionné à ras des bords de la piscine, non seulement il isole mais il diminue également l’évaporation des produits chimiques utilisés pour traiter l’eau. Une économie financière qui se défend grâce à la capacité d’isolation élevée du matériau utilisé. Un exemple de plancher mobile auto-flottant et isolant est le plancher de Variopool.
Buoyance of a movable floor
The reason why a self floating floor has a high insulating capacity is that the buoyancy blocks are made of insulating material such as polystyrene and the total pool surface is closed by polypropylene plates which have a good insulating capacity as well which give a double insulating capacity. Also when the pool is in the highest position a layer of air is created between the floor’s top deck and the actual water level. This layer of air basically is an extra insulation component. Next to this the edge of the movable floor is totally provided by a rubber buffer which closes the last opening between the pool walls and the movable floor.
You can compare this with a window with or without rubber insulating material, the difference is huge. These materials are very good at retaining heat, keeping the pool water warm and prevents the chemicals from evaporating . This means the pool’s heater has to run less often and for less time to keep the water at the desired temperature and that less chemicals are used to keep the pool water at the right quality level. This leads to significant savings on energy and chemical bills. Up to 30% on the energy bill and up to 25% on the chemical consumption. It is not difficult to make a business case where the return of investment of a floating movable floor is earned back in a short period of less then 10 years.
And when you take into account that a floating movable floor has a lifetime of 25 years when properly maintained, a lot of money can be saved and the environmental reduction of energy and chemical usage is high.
When the pool is not in use it is a save way to cover the pool with a movable floor. When the floor is set level with the platform it prevents people from accidently falling into the pool which prevents people from drowning. Typical pool covers which prevents the pool from losing heat and chemicals are open systems with less insulating capacity then a movable floor. A side effect is that they are open and have no capacity to support the weight of an animal or a person. And when someone accidently gets in the pool the danger is that you will be stuck underneath the pool cover and cannot get out easily. We all know the examples where people think it is save to step on the pool cover because it looks stable but you sink immediately down and will slide to the openings between the cover. With the use of a movable floor this is all prevented and it has a much better insulating capacity.
Strengten pool businessmodel and revenue.
Another important advantage of a movable pool floor is that it can be used to maximize the pool area. One pool can accommodate different groups with different swimming needs, by using a movable pool floor. Installing a movable floor directly results in decreasing the amount of pool water needed for different swimming activities. The need for less water means that means less energy is needed to heat the water, less water evaporation and less chemicals are needed to maintain the water quality. Moreover, the pool can be covered when not in use, preventing evaporation of water and preserving the heat in the water. A movable pool floor in an outside pool can even be used to heat the pool with solar energy. By lifting the bottom when the sun shines, the water can be heated by solar heat. This means less energy is needed to heat the water, contributing to energy savings.
However, the advantages of a pool floor are even larger. Using a movable pool floor enable swimming pool buildings or Leisure centers to be built in a much more compact way. This results in significantly lower initial building costs and highly effects the total energy cost and ecological footprint of the building itself over the years. As a result also annual maintenance cost can be kept low, creating a real liftetime advantage for the pool operator or city council and eventually all the users of the pool.
In addition, It is from our experience that the floating floor system has an average lifetime of 25-30 years, when maintained well. As there are no electrical or electromechanical components inside the pool, the wear and tear is rather limited and no extra chemical components need to be used to operate the pool floor system. Not rarely we see other systems to be replaced by this floating technique after only 10-15 years of operation. Taking this into account, this long lifetime also positively contributes to the total ecological footprint and business model.
Return on investment
A movable pool floor offers many advantages, including greater flexibility, improved safety and energy savings. By using insulation materials, efficient use of space and the use of solar energy, a movable pool floor highly contributes to a more sustainable and energy-efficient pool. The return on investment of a movable pool floor is huge. Whilst saving building costs, saving energy consumption and cost during the full technical lifetime and creating more flexibility to accommodate different target groups, a movable floor saves costs and increases revenue. All that can be realized with a low carbon footprint.
Installing a movable floor, is not about buying a technical product. It is all about in keeping people fit, against the lowest ecological footprint and best economical businessmodel.