38
JANUARY 2015 PRO INSTALLER
PRO BUSINESS
www.proinstaller.co.uk
Feeling the Heat
For the last few
months, Synseal’s
new WarmCore aluminium folding sliding
door system has been
undergoing extended
extreme weather testing in Portugal along
with structural strength
and enhanced security
testing, which has been
carried out by UKAS
testing laboratories,
with both tests regimes
yielding excellent results.
A 5-sash WarmCore unit
was installed in an outdoor
location in Lisbon, Portugal
back in July 2014 and this
continental climate exposure testing programme
will continue indefinitely to
prove the technical performance of the aluminium
framing in association with
the innovative third generation thermal break, which is
the “warm aluminium” core
at the heart of the product.
Late summer test results in
September 2014, recorded
an ambient temperature of
40oC immediately adjacent to the test rig and an
external aluminium frame
temperature of 71oC, the
severity of which surprised
the Synseal test engineers.
The WarmCore folding
sliding door continued to
function perfectly with
dimensional stability of sash
and frames unaffected by
these extreme temperatures,
which will certainly far
exceed any warm weather
climate conditions experienced in the UK.
Meanwhile in UKAS laboratory testing, a 4-3-1 configuration WarmCore folding
sliding door was subjected
to a full PAS24:2012 testing
programme. The mechanical load test calls for the
unit to withstand a loading
of 4.5kN for 10 seconds,
which was easily achieved.
The WarmCore door then
went on to withstand more
than 9.1kN, representing
a loading approaching 1
tonne on a single point of
application.
Phil Parry, Synseal’s Head
of Research & Development,
comments: “We selected
Portugal because we knew
the local weather cycles
with hot days and often
chilly nights would create
some extreme fluctuations
and really test our new
frame technology over an
extended period of time.
The results have been very
impressive and the point
load testing has confirmed
that we have achieved what
we set out to do in our
initial brief, which was to
design a next generation,
thermally efficient, inherently strong and durable
aluminium frame construction.”
For further information
visit www.synseal.com
Decrease in small business
confidence in North West
Compared to a year
ago, small businesses have become less
optimistic in the North
West and most parts
of the UK, except for
Lond