Residential care center United Kingdom
Background
A leading residential care provider across the UK operates this two-storey, 45-bedroom site in the Midlands. The home features a multi-boiler cascade system, consisting of four Buderus GB162 boilers, providing hot water for a busy laundry room and space heating for all bedrooms and communal areas. All bedrooms are equipped with a low water volume radiator with thermostatic radiator valves (TRV). Corridors and communal areas use a combination of classic panel radiators and low, space-saving radiators.
Challenge
This building has a high energy requirement: the boilers run 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. To reduce energy savings and wear and tear on their equipment, the company agreed to a six-month trial period with Hydromx. The installation process took just two days, without any disruption to residents or care home staff.
Their building management system (BMS) tracked external temperatures and the internal target space heating temperature of 23°C. The BMS sensors in the corridors on each floor and wing of the building, together with individual temperature data loggers positioned around the building, checked that there were no cold spots or areas of overheating.
On-site maintenance also used portable temperature sensors to verify that rooms were maintained at a comfortable 23°C.
Solution
First, the company established an energy consumption baseline based on data from the previous year. This data gave the company a clear link between outdoor temperatures and gas consumption when using only water in the boiler system.
The consumption data takes into account weather variations using Heating Degree Days Analysis, a methodology recommended by the Carbon Trust and the Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers.
After installing Hydromx, the outside temperatures during the test period determined the number of heating degrees per day (the heating demand). These in turn were used to calculate what the consumption would have been if there was only water in the heating system.
Results
The data from the six-month trial was compelling: Hydromx dramatically reduced the home's expected energy consumption.
The company's energy analysts used the HDD methodology to adjust the home's gas consumption based on weather conditions and concluded that Hydromx delivered energy savings of 21%.
In six months, the boiler system consumed 45,000 kWh less than expected. Using the HDD methodology, this indicates an estimated annual savings of 99,000 kWh (resulting in a reduction of 18 tonnes of CO2 emissions).
The company estimates that the energy savings will pay for the Hydromx installation in less than two years.
“Hydromx is a very cost-effective option to save energy,” the company reports. “We are now looking at where we can benefit from using Hydromx in other properties.”
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