Plumb-Line delivers star performance in school

06 February 2012

Plumb-Line Contracting Limited in Northampton helped a local school to maintain its Ecoschool Standard and reduce its heating bills by providing a new energy efficient and economic heating system.

Nicholas Hawksmoor Primary School’s aged heating and hot water systems were inefficient and in need of replacement. Plumb-Line surveyed the site and made recommendations for a new energy-efficient central heating system and hot water heaters, then provided all the information that the school needed to apply for funding from the Department for Education.
With the funding secured, the decision to go ahead was made two weeks into the school summer holidays. The only opportunity for the work to be completed before the winter and without disrupting the school’s day to day activities was the remaining four weeks of the summer holidays.

So Plumb-Line started work straightaway, with the first job being to remove some partition walls and storage cupboards to create more space in some of the classrooms. Plumb-Line then replaced old heaters with new radiators from Jaga. As safety is paramount, the radiators selected have a low surface temperature, but without any loss of heating performance. Combined with thermostatic controls, a comfortable room temperature can be maintained at all times. An additional safety feature is the pencil-proof grilles on the radiators, which is important in a school environment.

Plumb-Line fitted new hot water heaters in many classrooms throughout the schools. They were stainless steel unvented mains pressure heaters with thermostatic mixing valves to regulate the temperature and ensure the safety of the children.

When the children returned to school, just four weeks later, all the work in the classrooms had been completed. The walls and ceilings had been replastered and redecorated where necessary, the floors repaired and everything was tidy. Plumb-Line could then go ahead with the boiler installations, filling the system and testing.

Plumb-Line selected Viessmann high efficiency gas condensing boilers for their build quality, reliability, longevity and efficiency. They also offer an outstanding price/performance ratio. Two Viessmann Vitocrossal 200-w (142kW) boilers were installed in one location and two Viessmann Vitodens 200 (45kW) boilers in another. Both pairs of boilers were commissioned to run in tandem to ensure security of heating and peace of mind for the school.

All boilers have weather compensation controls, so small adjustments in the boiler flow temperature are made in response to the outside temperature. This enables the boiler to run cost-effectively and efficiently at lower temperatures, condensing for longer, resulting in additional fuel savings of up to 15%.

Laura Kerrison, School Business Manager at Nicholas Hawksmoor School said: “We are absolutely delighted with the new heating system. We now have consistent heat throughout the school. It’s more comfortable all round for everybody and we have much better control over the heat. The hot water systems in particular have had a dramatic effect on the pupils and staff’s wellbeing.” She concluded: “I’m very pleased with how the project has been run. The whole team at Plumb-Line was fantastic – they were really helpful in planning the project and advising us on what we needed. And not only did they complete the work within a very tight timeframe, they worked very hard and were polite and courteous - and it was all completed on budget.”

For more details about Plumb-Line, go to www.plumb-line.co.uk or call 01604 644500.