When Mike Humphrey at Vale of Aylesbury Housing needed to replace old, inefficient boilers, he chose to upgrade seven of them to ARES Tec and two to ProTec boilers from Alpha. The reputation for energy efficiency resulted in Alpha’s products being specified to provide residents with hot water and heating.
Within the Wycliffe End development, there are four ARES Tec boilers servicing blocks named after famous people with links to Buckinghamshire. The Anne Boleyn, Enid Blyton, Rothschild and Road Dahl blocks each benefit from 250kw ARES Tecs, complete with plate exchanger and safety kit.
The ARES Tec incorporates self-contained modules to provide a greater transfer of heat. Each has its own down-firing pre-mix burner, fan, ignition and safety controls to assist in the changing demands of buildings with a number of different occupants.
This is achieved in part due to the integrated E8 Boiler Cascade Manager. Spreading the load evenly between heat modules and optimising to the changing demands on the boiler, it provides a rapid warm up time in response to multiple requests. This is therefore perfect for catering to the fluctuating needs of a residential development, such as those within Wycliffe End. These independent living blocks benefit from radiators, central heating, hot water and thermostatic radiator valves (TRVs) so each living space can be controlled by its occupants to suit their needs.
Independently, if demand falls low enough, the boiler can run on the minimum output of a single module, resulting in minimal energy use.
North End Court still needed large output requirements, however the space was limited. For this assisted living development, two ProTec Plus commercial boilers were specified. This is a fan-assisted condensing system to provide heating only for sealed central heating systems, or open systems if required. These are supplied with type ‘B23’ flue configuration (open chamber and forced draught) to allow flexible siting, but can be adapted to type ‘C’ (room sealed) with the use of a special flue adaptor kit if need be.
The ProTec Plus offers equally impressive outputs to the ARES Tec, but the system is more compact to maximise space capacity. This was the ideal solution for North End Court, where energy efficiency was still a high priority but the space was restrictive.
Having established a working relationship with Alpha Heating Innovation in a previous role, Mike Humphrey of Vale of Aylesbury Housing brought with him a keen interest in the boilers for the housing association sector.
Mike commented on the upgrades happening at Vale of Aylesbury Housing, saying: “A lot of the boilers at several of our sites had either come to the end of their life or were inefficient. I’ve previously been very happy with the support from Alpha, having worked with them in the past. The team are happy to help and provide ongoing training so we can make the most out of the products.
“I’ve been really impressed with the fuel costs and savings we’ve made from switching to the ARES Tec and ProTec Plus boilers. I knew I could rely on good outputs and service from them and I think the company has a well thought out design process for its products.”
Watch the full video on Alpha’s YouTube video.
