The Lawn
The Project
In 2022 we were asked by a local contractor to supply, design and install a heating system for a Victorian property in Nailsea being converted from a single dwelling to 5 modern apartments. Part of the planning stipulation was that the converted properties used low carbon heating making heat pumps the perfect choice, however as the building was to be used as 5 separate apartments most suppliers had recommended using 5 heat source, increasing the project’s cost massively.
The Victorian property was being completely renovated, with internal wall insulation, secondary glazing, new loft insulation and floor insulation for the ground floor which was to be heated using underfloor heating. The hot water for each apartment needed to be independent so that tenants could have control over it.
The Solution
To keep the projects costs in budget we were able to design a single heat pump system capable of heating the whole property as opposed to 5 heat pumps that alternative supplier were suggesting. Despite the property being around 220m2 the total heat loss of the property was around 14kW allowing us to select the Daikin Altherma 3 Monobloc. We designed a system to work with a 400 litre buffer vessel to allow for plenty of heated water for the property all to be installed in the basement plant room of the house.
This covered the heating, we then had to tackle a design for the hot water. Typically heat pumps only work with single cylinders as they sense the cylinders actual temperature through a probe rather than an on / off signal. To overcome this issue we specified 5 Mixergy smart cylinders, each with a heat pump interface which would enable us to tell the heat pump to heat the cylinders when they needed hot water. With their fast heat up times and smart interface this meant we could keep hot water control independent for each apartment whilst only requiring 1 heat pump.
The Installation
The installation took place during the renovation of the property, with the main contractor completing most of the heating works in the apartments whilst the main heating components were installed in the basement with a 400 litre buffer vessel and large control panel for operating the system.
Cylinders were installed in each individual apartment and the flow and returns for the heating and hot water were metered in the basement to allow the landlord to bill tenants for their usage. The heat pump was sited close to the plant room with access for servicing and maintenance and the heat pump is connected to Daikin’s cloud monitoring system to allow for remote monitoring.
The Results
By designing a system using 1 central heat pump has kept the cost of install within budget for the contractor, we’ve also been able to prove the capabilities of heat pumps when heating apartment buildings.
The main contractor was able to benefit from the Boiler Upgrade Scheme as part of the development saving them substantially on the cost of install and with the ongoing monitoring of the heat pumps consumption the running costs of the apartments are low.