05 September 2024
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Collaboration provides a new luxury care home with a fully integrated heating and hot water system which is in tune with the care village’s wider ambition of being a “fully sustainable community”.
Lochinvar has provided a complete heating and hot water system powered by four air source heat pumps for a new luxury 72-bedroom care home set in the rolling Yorkshire countryside.
The home is the latest addition to the retirement community at Lavender Fields Care Village, which also includes 24 privately owned bungalows near the picturesque village of Barmby Moor. It is three miles from the famous market town of Pocklington in the spectacular East Riding, and the 72 luxury bedrooms enjoy views over the countryside and the community’s landscaped gardens.
Lochinvar was specified to provide a fully integrated heating and hot water package including energy-saving heat pumps, a thermal store, two storage vessels, and ancillaries. The system, which was designed and installed by Leeds-based mechanical services contractor, Sayes, and overseen by the main contractor Firecrest Construction, is managed by a priority control system that keeps energy use low while ensuring the right balance between hot water production and the home’s underfloor heating system.
The heat pumps were chosen from Lochinvar’s Amicus HT air-to-water heat pump range which can provide hot water at up to 63degC giving a highly efficient lowcarbon method of supplying domestic hot water in existing and new build properties.
Prioritise
The system at Lavender Fields uses a threeport priority demand function which allows the system to prioritise hot water, in line with the specific demands of a care home, and then switch to heating mode when the hot water demand has been met.
This highly energy-efficient approach is further boosted by using a thermal store that helps to smooth out the peak loads and reduces the number of times the compressor starts and stops – so helping to prolong operational life and improve reliability.
The Lochinvar system also includes cascade control which allows the system to closely manage the operating patterns of the four heat pumps to match demand. This is very energy efficient and is, therefore, in tune with the care village’s wider ambition of being a “fully sustainable community”. The system was chosen because, to be successful, the project needed a fully integrated solution with all the separate components working in close co-ordination. The design team praised the technical and after-sales support provided by the manufacturer, particularly mentioning the high levels of communication during the specification and installation processes. Lochinvar’s Amicus HT range comprises 34 separate models with heating capacities up to 219kW. They can operate in ambient temperatures as low as -20˚C in heating mode and can also achieve a coefficient of performance (COP) above four.
Info: www.lochinvar.ltd.uk
