PHPI follows the renovation of a seven-bedroom property involving the installation of two Grant Vortex Pro Utility system oil fired boilers.
Based in the Buckinghamshire countryside, a 6,500 square foot farmhouse has undergone a series of renovation projects. Since the current owners bought the property in 2011, several developments have been completed, with the latest renovation including a loft conversion, the build of an additional barn and adding over 4,000 square foot to the property’s living quarters. Today, the house now comprises seven bedrooms, eight bathrooms, a gym, a media room and five receptions.
The most recent stage of the renovation included upgrading the heating system. The previous oil boiler needed replacing and the householder also wanted to improve the controls system for their heating as well. Therefore, to meet the large property’s heating and hot water requirements, two Grant Vortex Pro Utility System 26/36kW oil boilers were installed, alongside a comprehensive Header Control System, also supplied by Grant.
The most important aspect for the build was to insulate the house as much as possible to reduce the need to increase the size of the boilers and also to ensure it had the best possible controls. Heppelthwaite Plumbing and Heating carried out the installation of two Grant Vortex Pro Utility boilers.
The units incorporate the company’s patented stainless-steel heat exchangers for high efficiency, along with the latest Riello RDB Low NOx compact burner, which is ErP compliant with the recent emissions legislation. This new legislation has set maximum nitrogen oxides (NOx) emission levels that space heaters will need to meet, reducing the overall NOx emissions produced from heating. For oil-fired boilers, the NOx emissions targets are set at a maximum of 120mg/kWh, so all oil boilers placed on the market by a manufacturer on or after 26 September 2018, have needed to be compliant.
The two Vortex boilers installed at this farmhouse were both system versions. The system models include, as standard, an expansion vessel, filling loop, pressure gauge, automatic air vent, pressure relief valve and high efficiency circulating pump. These components enable the boilers to be installed without the requirement for a feed and expansion tank in the loft.
Alongside the boilers, two Mag One magnetic filters were also installed. The 12,000 gauss magnet within each works as a triple-action filtration system, filtering magnetite and nonferrous debris from the central heating system to provide long lasting protection. A Grant White System Flue assembly was fitted for each boiler, which included vertical balanced flue kits, pitched roof flashings and accompanying wall brackets.
Overseeing the two boilers installed and the different heating requirements throughout such a large property, requires a clever energy management system. Working closely with their installer and Grant UK’s Pre-Sales Technical Team, the householder was able to choose a comprehensive Low Loss Header System, which included a GES264 sequence controller to manage the two heat sources (the oil boilers in this case) and several 8m Zone Pump Kits, which enable multiple heating appliances to be combined and efficiently work together. Also included was a low loss header, which allows for the feeding of more than one heating zone, and four GEO360 weather compensators which use sensors to trigger adjustments to the system’s water temperature.
The large property is now benefitting from a new, more efficient heating system.
