Archimedes takes its name from the ancient Greek mathematician. Legend has it that in the third century BC Heiron II, king of Syracuse was suspicious that his crown was not solid gold but was gold plated around a far less valuable metal. Archimedes was tasked with finding out if the crown was real gold, without breaking it open. 

The mathematician thought about the problem so intently that he neglected his personal hygiene. His students then dragged him to a bath and forced him to wash. Whilst in the bath he noticed some of the water spill over the edge. He realised he could place the crown in water and measure the displacement. Then take the equivalent amount of solid gold, also measure the overspill and if it was less than the crown he’d know if the king had been duped by a dishonest goldsmith.  

So joyous about his discovery, he jumped out the bath and ran down the street naked shouting “Eureka”.  The crown turned out not to be solid gold after all. 

We’ll never know if this story is true, what we do know is that Archimedes gave the world the law of the lever and balance, the water screw, the area of a circle and of course the law of buoyancy. This was used in the building of the Syracusia, the Titanic of its day, and has been used in naval engineering ever since. 

With our Archimedes we give you a way to calculate which water heater you need. Figuring out the demand for hot water can be the biggest headache. Get it wrong and you risk running out of hot water resulting in unhappy clients.   

Here’s how it works: 

Step 1 – Type of Building: 

You choose from a list of presets, such as: apartment blocks, hotels, canteens, restaurants, factories, football pitches, leisure centres, hospitals, launderettes and tanneries. 

Step 2 – Design: 

Then you answer some questions unique to that type of building. For example, if you choose restaurant, enter details such as number of meals, water consumption per meal and hot water requirements for the first hour.  

Step 3 – Installation: 

This is where you choose how you want to heat your water. If you have an external heat source, then you could select a tank. If you have high hot water demand, then you can select a boiler and storage tank. 

Step 4 - Configuration: 

Finally, fill out the parameters of the installation, such as boiler temperature settings and the type of fuel. 

Result: 

You’ll be given a list of all ACV boilers or tanks that match your building’s needs. You’ll also get  a list of details such as total DHW requirement, flow rates and recovery times. 

Archimedes is easy to use and 100% free