Winners of the 2017 National ACR & Heat Pump Awards

Matrix Energy Systems was asked to provide a heating solution for one of the most exclusive properties in Jersey. Because of the very specific requirements, they installed three Viessmann Vitocal air source heat pumps.

​One of the most exclusive properties in Jersey, Le Couperon is an £8m luxury home situated on the site of a converted Napoleonic fortress.

Matrix Energy Systems was asked to provide a heating solution for the main house’s considerable, 11,500 sq ft floor area, swimming pool, showers, and guest accommodation. The new heating system had to be strong, dependable, and precisely controllable in different parts of the house, exceptionally energy efficient, and environmentally friendly, with no use of fossil fuels. 
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The optimum heating technology for this property was determined through a process of elimination. Biomass was ruled out as fuel would have to be imported, ground source heat pumps was excluded because of drilling limitations, and solar panels resisted because of their effect on the aesthetics of the building. 

The solution, for energy-efficiency and fossil fuel-free heating, was three Viessmann Vitocal air source heat pumps. Air source heat pumps are particularly suited to Jersey’s climate.

The brief was to provide low maintenance heating and hot water for a picturesque 18th Century tower windmill used as a family home.

One of the key factors in the brief was to install a ground source system which needed little intervention from the homeowner. For Mrs Martin, who is in her 80s, the heating and hot water needed to virtually run itself. The building’s 18th Century structure provided many heating challenges. The existing oil boiler system was unable to deliver adequate heat throughout.

The entire system was designed and installed without impacting the aesthetic appearance of this truly remarkable home. The ground source heat pumps were installed within the existing oil tank storage space and 2,000 metres of collector loop were meticulously laid within six inch wide trenches at a depth of 1.2 metres within a field adjacent to the house. Primary trenches were carefully taken through the hedging and across the lawn, to leave virtually no trace after the installation was completed.

Cassette
The new Samsung 360 Cassette is a world-first circular air conditioning unit with omnidirectional flow discharge.

In order to create this circular cassette, Samsung had to overcome the restrictions associated with oscillating louver blades used in traditional four-way cassettes – impossible to fit into a circular unit.

​In order to overcome this, Samsung developed a patented ‘negative pressure solution’. Using three mini booster fans, a negative pressure is formed on the upper side of the cassette, deflecting the air upwards. Speeding up and slowing down these fans oscillates the air in the same motion as would be created by a louver blade.

This lack of physical frictional blades increases the efficiency of the system and achieves a 0° discharge angle, allowing the air to pass along the ceiling and avoid cold draughts.

RAGT’s initial brief was to reduce the heating costs for its six glasshouses, which are used for developing new crops. LPG had previously been used to heat the glasshouses which, with a U value of around six, meant the boiler was in constant use in winter, leading to issues with fuel supply and heat distribution as the system couldn’t keep up with the heat being generated.

RAGT needed a new system that was energy efficient, sustainable and could also be retrofitted to current equipment, including its existing grow tubes, and use the current plant room.

​This is the biggest heat pump installation that Finn Geotherm has undertaken to date, they specified and installed three Lämpöässä T120 ground source heat pumps linked to three Akvanti 2400 litre thermal stores.

A network of 21,000 metres of collector loop was meticulously installed, with each loop no more than 500 metres as recommended by Lämpöässä to minimise pumping energy losses via the series of manifold chambers..

In addition, each of the 42 loops was carefully modelled and nested in the trenches to ensure cold flows did not cross with warm returns and impact the system’s efficiency.

This innovative replacement cooling and heating project in Canary Wharf has dramatically reduced building running costs and carbon emissions, while providing outstanding indoor comfort for occupants.

Energy costs have been reduced by some £255,027 a year, amounting to nearly £5,000 per week. These savings will continue to accrue over the anticipated 10 to 15 year operational life of the plant, delivering total lifetime savings of between £2.55m and £3.8m.

Designed and installed by Cool-­‐Therm in collaboration with Gratte Brothers and WSP London, the replacement system is based on all-­fresh air heating and cooling. This is supplied by high performance Air Handling Units (AHUs), with a combination of water-­ to-­air heat pumps and dx cooling.

Key to its efficiency is the harnessing of energy from condensing water from the cooling system for use in heating the building.

In addition, each of the 42 loops was carefully modelled and nested in the trenches to ensure cold flows did not cross with warm returns and impact the system’s efficiency.

After evaluating the market, Javac decided that it could satisfy its customers’ requirements by launching an app-based wireless refrigerant scale with F-Gas refrigerant data logging features.

This scale was developed not only to perform in an ever-changing technological environment, but also to set the standards for versatility, durability and accuracy, by offering a larger capacity maximum weight of 115kg.

The Wey-TEK HD has made a notable difference in assisting both refrigeration and air conditioning engineers by making F-Gas tracking a simple three click process via the free downloadable app.

The Adande A+ Fridge benefits from unique 'Hold the Cold' technology. Efficient and sustainable, there is less temperature recovery as cold air remains with the food. This saves energy and is suitable for refurbishment. Superior temperature control keeps food fresher for longer.

Extending the boundaries
Through rigorous R&D, the A+ Fridge cooling system is significantly enhanced to deliver superior performance:

• Application of a high energy-optimised compressor
• Sustainable hydrocarbon refrigerant R600a with low global warming potential
• Improvement in the controller software settings
• Minimisation of heat loads
• Optimisation of the cooling system to operate at refrigeration temperatures

Energy saving
When compared to a standard VCS/VCR R600A in chiller mode, the A+ Fridge has an energy saving of 23%.

The Ecodan QUHZ air source heat pump is engineered to match the different heating and hot water requirements of new-build homes. The MCS-Approved unit uses CO2 as a refrigerant to ensure a large Delta T between flow and return temperatures and deliver the high levels of efficiency needed to meet the demands of today’s well insulated new houses.

The unit delivers water at 70ºC to a packaged 200 litre thermal store. From this thermal store, mains water is heated directly up to 65ºC via Mitsubishi Electric’s unique plate heat exchanger, meaning the homeowner receives hot water on demand.

Unlike other Ecodan models in the range, this unit uses CO2 as a refrigerant to ensure a large delta T between the flow and return temperatures to and from the outdoor unit, and this delivers the high levels of efficiency necessary to meet the high hot water, low heating demands of today’s new-build properties.

This takes the heat pump industry directly into a sector which has previously been dominated by gas.

​This system is aimed at the domestic market as an alternative to oil and LPG boilers and electric storage heaters, and as a replacement for traditional gas boilers.

To verify the efficiencies of the hybrid system and highlight the role that heat pumps can play in reducing carbon emissions, Daikin UK embarked on a 12-month field trial, monitoring performance of Daikin Altherma hybrid heat pumps in a range of two and three-bedroom houses across the UK from Dumfries to Dorset.

Hybrid systems of 5kW or 8kW were installed and both existing and new radiators were used. Installations were designed and installed by Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) accredited installers. Heat loss calculation and required flow temperatures were based on MCS standards.

Stonegrove Refrigeration Services is one of the leading independent refrigeration companies in the UK, capable of designing, installing, servicing and maintaining nationally all types of refrigeration systems.

Started in July 2002 by Ray Cashmore, the company has grown in size year-on-year since 2002 and now firmly believes it is one of the largest independently owned industrial refrigeration companies within the UK; regularly turning over in excess of £10million.

In 2007/2008, Daniel Cashmore, Ray's son, and Kerry Letchford purchased shares within Stonegrove as a planned strategy with Ray to ease him gently towards future retirement.

Dan and Kerry have worked most of their lives in the industry and have been at Stonegrove from the very early years of conception. Both have been an integral part of Stonegrove's success and growth during this period.

David Thompson, Managing Director and owner of Ground Heat, began working in the plumbing and heating industry as an apprentice in 1980.

In 2003, as Installations Manager at a plumbing and heating firm in Horwich, Bolton, he came across his first GSHP and never looked back.

His passion took him the length and the breadth of the country just to have the opportunity to install ground source heat pumps, as there were very few customers willing to take a risk with the new technology in the UK.

He began installing small domestic units and then moved on to large-scale commercial work in social housing units.

His most recent designs include installing 56 individual ground source heat pumps into a social housing unit in Bromley operated by a communal ground array and a unique riser design and the installation of an energy blade into a river in Clitheroe to run ground source heating.

RW is a national wholesaler of high quality, multi-brand products. They strive to achieve the highest level of service by putting the customer at the heart of all they do. Positioned strategically around the UK, the 12 RW branches are fully-stocked one-stop shops that ensure customer demand is fulfilled.

Offering a £2.2 million stock holding of over 6,000 products which include air conditioning equipment, ancillaries, refrigeration capital equipment and components from world-leading suppliers. RW reaps the benefits of offering customers training on all product ranges, therefore free of charge training seminars are available locally at all branches.

Together with various partners it offers discounted training on refrigerant handling to ensure all customers comply with current legislation and can provide customers with a professional service that follows the ideals of the industry.

RW also offers a unique F-Gas tracking system for its customers' certification renewals.

Toshiba’s new mini-BMS is an innovative new control and monitoring solution that combines powerful features with a user-friendly interface.

It gives access to control parameters for:

• Indoor units;
• External devices;
• Temperature reporting and logging;
• Plus power monitoring for the whole building.

Remote capabilities
It enables remote access to control and monitoring functions via the internet, giving users and service providers an extremely flexible tool to monitor and control the system, as well as diagnose potential problems remotely. In the event of a problem, it can automatically send an email or text alerts to notify a building manager that an issue needs attention.

Energy monitoring
The mini-BMS is able to log and store energy usage data to provide a valuable record which can be analysed in detail. It can do this for the whole building or specified parts of a building, giving the user the ability to automatically graph and evaluate the system’s performance over time, a part of an ongoing energy management programme.

Jane is very well respected and has an extremely high profile within the refrigeration industry. In her time she has served as President of the Institute of Refrigeration (IoR), chaired the IoR's Education and Training Committee, and is also on the British Refrigeration Association's (BRA) Council.

Jane's lead in sustainability issues throughout her career has made her a thought leader on subjects including energy efficiency, deploying natural refrigerants and reducing refrigerant leakage. Her international work includes working with UNEP to bring about the phase-out of CFC in developing countries.

She was recently included on the Daily Telegraph's 'Top 50 Women in Engineering' list. This is all in addition to her work as the well-respected co-owner of the consultancy and training firm, Cool Concerns.

Jane said: “I chose to study engineering at university on the advice of my (male) physics tutor. It seemed more interesting than teaching and more attainable than being an astronaut. My entry into the refrigeration industry in 1977 was purely because I was offered a graduate trainee position by a compressor manufacturer. I initially worked on the design and development of commercial RAC equipment and then moved into technical sales, a global troubleshooting role.”