Woodland Village Hall, Durham

Installing an innovative hybrid heating system

Background

Woodland Village Hall was built in 1894. Whilst there had been recent improvements to insulation, the building was not very heat efficient. The domestic oil-fired boiler was over 20 years old. When the need arose for a new heating system, the hall's trustees decided to install an innovative hybrid heating system.

The new system consists of a domestic oil-fired boiler, together with an air source heat pump, because a heat pump on its own would not cope. The heat pump takes power, so far as possible, from the solar PV system previously installed.

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About the heating system

  • The heating system uses a Worcester Bosch CW2000i AWS 12kw Heat Pump (the outdoor unit) together with a Worcester Bosch Greenstar Heatslave 25/32 Oil Combi Boiler inside the boiler room.
  • This is an integrated system with the heat pump controlling the boiler. The heat pump is the primary heating source.
  • The boiler is used in addition to the heat pump when:
    • Hot water is needed (there is no hot water tank and the boiler is always used whenever hot water is needed)
    • The ambient temperature is below 10° (as detected by a sensor in the heat pump unit)
    • The temperature difference between the supply and return pipes to the heat pump is more than 10°
  • These have a full parts and labour guarantee, five years for the heat pump and seven years for the boiler, from the install date.
  • The installer was Matt Grange Ltd, based in Stockton.

Top tips

  1. Ensure that the installation includes an isolation switch so that the boiler can be operated on its own without the heat pump, if required. This is necessary in case of a prolonged power cut, because the heat pump would otherwise drain the back-up batteries very quickly, whereas the boiler consumes very little electrical power.
  2. The hall initially had a set-up where the heating pipes supplying the radiators were filled with plain water and there were ‘antifreeze’ valves incorporated to drain excess fluid, in case the ambient temperature went below freezing. This did not work well and had to be replaced with a system using glycol antifreeze, with no valves. This has worked well.
  3. A means to monitor the power consumption of the heat pump is very useful. We had this available through the solar PV control app.

Brian Abbott, a member of the management committee at Woodland Village Hall, tells us more:

Our key challenges

  • Relatively few hybrid heating systems of this type have been installed in the UK. To some extent both we and the installer were learning as we went.
  • The hall was built in 1894 to have a coal-fired boiler. The boiler room still had the hole where the coal would be fed through, and had an asbestos roof, which had to be removed.
  • Getting quotes was another challenge, as lots of businesses that were approached did not respond.

Our future plans

We have already added a false ceiling with insulation, but the wall cavity and narrow insulation is not up to modern standards.

We are seeking to obtain expert advice on how to better insulate the building.

How Durham Community Action helped

  • Durham Community Action (DCA) signposted Woodlands Village Hall to funding through the Community Spaces Partnership, from the National Lottery Community Fund.
  • DCA provided guidance, useful information and helpful advice. DCA also monitored progress through reporting.
  • Building on a long-standing relationship, DCA and Woodlands Village Hall worked together to formalise the hall's governance and policies.

Find out more:

To contact Brian Abbott at Woodland Village Hall, please email: brian@abbott.plus.com

To contact the installer Matt Grange Ltd visit its website using the button below.

To download the technical information document used by the management committee at Woodland Village Hall, please use the button below.

 

Download the technical information Matt Grange Ltd's Website

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