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 | | NEW DANFOSS HEAT PUMP HELPS MAKE DEVON VILLAGE A GREENER PLACE – HOWEVER YOU SAY IT! | | | Danfoss | | 21/07/2008 | | | A Danfoss heat pump is at the heart of a Devon village's latest contribution to a sustainable environment.
Woolfardisworthy, near Bideford, has at least two claims to fame. Firstly because it's one of those UK place names that's pronounced with little regard for the spelling - it's Woolsery - and secondly it has a village hall that's just gone from being "green" to "greener".
A new programme of upgrading of heating and hot water services centred on a Danfoss heat pump has been carried out. The system, designed by Danfoss Heat Pumps UK (formerly Eco Heat Pumps) has achieved a virtually zero carbon rating for the Sports and Community Hall.
The Hall was built in 2000 to host a wide range of sports and social amenities for this rural parish in North Devon.
Facilities on offer include a choice of meeting rooms, a fully equipped kitchen and bar and a main hall, which can be a setting for bowls, skittles and badminton, or provide a 275-seat venue for everything from wedding receptions to theatrical performances.
Green engineering
Green engineering was a priority from the outset. The timber frame construction features high levels of insulation, well in excess of Building Regulations, using recycled newsprint and triple-glazed windows and doors.
Measures were taken to make the maximum use of natural daylight. Harvested rainwater is used to flush the toilets and an underfloor heating system serves all internal areas of the 750m2 building that receive no thermal gain from sunlight. Other areas have radiators.
Now the Hall Trustees have taken a further step towards maximum energy efficiency. The latest measures include installation of photo-voltaic panels capable of generating 9kW on a south-facing roof and a 15-metre high 6kW wind turbine.
Electricity generated by these renewable sources contributes to the operation of an 8kW Danfoss Diplomat ground source heat pump. The original oil-fired boiler plant remains in place to provide back-up in extreme conditions.
Loops of pipework buried one metre down in the grounds of the Hall now draw natural radiant energy trapped in the earth.
The pipes carry water - now heated to around XXoC - back to a plant room in the Hall, which houses an 8kW Danfoss Diplomat Robust Heat Pump. Here the action of compressor and condenser bring the water temperature up to the levels to serve the underfloor heating system, the radiators and to provide ample domestic hot water for the building.
Available in a range of outputs from 4-12kW the Thermia Diplomat heat pump has been specially developed to operate on 230V, single-phase power supplies. Units can provide hot water for both heating and domestic hot water supplies – using the Tap Water Stratificator (TWS) feature results in much more efficient heat transfer and the in-built storage tank can hold up to180 litres of hot water at 60oC.
Features include quiet running scroll compressors, high efficiency plate-type heat exchangers and an additional sub-cooler that extracts additional energy from the water source. Although simple to operate, the control options make it possible for the user to carry out a wide range of energy-saving control functions – tracking temperature changes and altering settings as required. Automatic weather compensation is built into the design.
Spectacular
The results of the new technologies have been spectacular, as Hall Trustee Brian Butler explains.
"On most days the on site generated electricity provides any additional energy required by the heat pump and any surplus is sold to the grid.
Consumption and operating costs have been very carefully monitored. Between the end of January and April 1st this year our new measures have saved an average £15 a day when compared to the original systems, to which the Danfoss heat pump has contributed 50%.
Taking into account our Low Carbon Building Programme grant of 50% that represents an 18% return on capital!"
Woolfardisworthy Sports and Community Hall has also received funding from EDF Green Energy Fund and Devon Association of Renewable Energy. | |
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Underfloor , Radiant , Ground Source , Energy Efficiency , Controls , Commercial/Industrial Boilers , Natural , Pipework , Photovoltaics , Solar Water Heating , Ground Source Heat , Wind Turbines , Rainwater Harvesting , Recycling Solutions , Part L , Other , Sports Facilities
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