Neptune, Knutsford
The Project.
As a recurring customer of ours Neptune, the high end furniture manufacturer, approached us to install a renewable heating system in their brand new store opening in Knutsford.
For years Neptune have looked to create a cosy and comfortable environment for their clients and the combination of underfloor heating and air source heat pumps solves this by giving a constant room temperature and keeping running costs down.
With a large plant room and plenty of outdoor space there was scope to install an effective renewable heating system in keeping with Neptune’s brand.
The Solution.
Owing to the large size of the building, at over 490sqm, one of the challenges was to ensure the sizing of the heat pumps was accurate enough so as to not be over or undersized.
Part of our service included the design of the heat pump system, completing room by room heat loss calculations and estimated performance of the system. This was completed for the new store, who also wanted to include working hot and cold water systems to the show kitchens for the first time, meaning our designs needed to include calculations for hot water usage as well as delivery to the sinks and taps.
The Heat Pumps.
Owing to the size of the store the requirement was for 2 heat pumps. The selection was 2 Daikin split type heat pumps, both 16kW to cope with the stores demand. One of these was connected to a Daikin All-in-One unit which includes all the controls as well as integral 230 litre hot water cylinder, saving space in the plant room and reducing installation cost and time. this 230 litre of hot waters was plenty of storage for the store.
In the plant room a 200 litre buffer vessel was installed for the heating system, this store of water reduces the pressure on the heat pumps and ensures faster delivery of heating when the heating is switched on. Due to the nature of refrigeration split system the installation locations could be flexible, allowing for greater distances between the indoor and outdoor units.
Value.
This project came at a cost of approximately £18,000 which included the installation of the 2 air source heat pumps and buffer vessel as well as all the required calculations, design and certification under the Microgeneration Certification Scheme.
As an off grid site the alternative fuels sources were oil or LPG, which would result in very high running costs, we predict cost savings of 40% over these alternative fuels by running the heat pumps at lower flow temperatures using underfloor heating and zone controls.