Braunton Academy in North Devon has improved the reliability and efficiency of its heating with the installation of three replacement Remeha Quinta Ace 160 boilers ahead of the colder months.
When the secondary school’s ageing cast iron pressure jet boilers began to show signs of imminent failure, the governors were quick to act to restore a reliable heating service.
The school’s primary concern was to ensure the continued operation of the building. Increasing the energy efficiency of the heating was a further requirement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and lower the school’s energy bills. Added to this was the need to complete the upgrade within the fixed timeframe of the school holidays.
IQ Engineering Consultants were called in to assess the condition of the existing boilers and to assist with a funding application. They concluded that not only had the original boilers reached the end of their life but they were oversized, reducing the efficiency of the heating service and creating unnecessary high energy bills. This was due to the building fabric having been upgraded with enhanced insulation and new windows over the years, while the heating system had remained unchanged.
After re-evaluating the building’s current space heating demand, IQ recommended installing three Remeha Quinta Ace 160 boilers in an in-line cascade with low loss header to meet the load. IQ specified the Remeha Quinta range based on its experience with the product and its use in previous projects, as Director Jeff Hocking explained:
“We have used Remeha Quinta range products on a significant number of schemes and all have proved reliable and successful,” he said. “The build quality and reliability is good and they are easily maintained. We have also experienced good back up service from Remeha, which is valuable to a specifier.”
Remeha designed the compact, wall-hung Quinta Ace 160 to overcome the problems of restricted space in plant rooms. Its space-saving dimensions provided time and labour saving benefits on this project as the boilers could be positioned to take advantage of existing flue locations. The ability to install the three boilers on a complete back-to-back cascade package with pre-fabricated headers proved a rapid, high-quality solution to meet the tight refurbishment schedule.
Jeff continued: “The installation went well with the prefabrication and modular construction of the cascade system saving time on site. The Remeha pumping system also provided a successful solution to dealing with condensate drainage in the basement plant room.”
To maximise energy savings, the project included re-piping and zoning of the circuits within the building for enhanced controllability and the addition of a new Building Management System.
David Ludley, Estates Manager at Braunton Academy, commented: “The fully-modulating Remeha boilers are working well, reliably matching the heat demand and keeping the system operating at its most efficient. The upgraded system is proving reliable and easy to control and has made a great improvement to the working environment of the Academy. We’re particularly pleased with the ability to control room temperature using zonal controls and are anticipating significant energy savings in the months ahead.”
The mechanical engineers were INTOHEAT Ltd. The contractor’s designer was EDP Environmental.
For more information, visit: www.remeha.co.uk
