Regional Winners

Please tell us about a project you are particularly proud of – what was the problem and how did you solve it for the customer?

This project has been one of my favourites that I have been involved with since I started out the business. It started as an oil boiler installation with a scope to improve over time, however, the customer asked me back to install a heat pump. The original part of the house was purchased to renovate but then a large extension was to be added and a new build extension was created and linked via a glass walk way to join the buildings. The homeowner wanted to create the perfect home as it was adjoining to their stable yard and had land at the back for future plans. I originally got the job as I could offer a hotter floor temperature in the ensuite compared to the bedroom. The design from the onset was all about efficiency and full future proofing. There were challenges straight off the bat, distance from the plant room to the furthest parts of the house, keeping the house heated in the original part with hot water whilst we got all new pipework in etc providing first fix for the builders to move on. We eventually got everything done and the owner has been really happy with the oil boiler. They have lived in the house and we have tweaked things to make the comfort temperature perfect.

As time went on the fun started with the newer part of the project, which is when we added the ASHP as the demand was there for it. The owner has always wanted the property to be as self-sufficient as possible, no waste, little running cost, ultimately trying to be nothing each month and being as flexible as possible. The owner also had many ideas of trying different ways of trying to use the energy he had. Because of the lay out of the property and how they lived and not always having a full house, we had 4 mixed heating circuits and 1 unmixed plus the DHW. Most of the heating is UFH with one circuit of radiators and one unmixed circuit for towel rails. We have a 500L break tank, a Wilo boost pump and a Wilo auto fill unit. We have added protection for the oil boiler of a Spirotech MBL air separator and dirt separator.

Which products did you select for the job and why?

The installation started as a Viessmann Vitorondens 200T Oil boiler, with weather compensation built in and all circuits with their own independent weather compensated heating circuit, individual temperature set point and individual time capability. The cylinder was 4 piped for DHW priority for a higher temperature for quicker heat up time using a Viessmann Vitocell twin coil cylinder (keep in mind future proof) …The customer then decided to install 10-12kw of solar PV….

Here comes the future proof part…. The customer then wanted to look at harnessing some parts of the solar yield into the heating. Naturally an ASHP was the next solution but he wanted to try some other things first. The DHW immersion was linked to a switch to the solar PV and the customer wanted to put a direct feed into the heating water if there was any spare energy left. So, I installed a small 60L wall mounted buffer custom made for me to incorporate another immersion. This was purely trial and error for the customer to try and heat things up in different ways using his PV and his smart phone to direct energy in different places.

The latest part of the job was to install an ASHP. Naturally with an all Viessmann plant room, it was the way forward as everything would talk to each other seamlessly. So now we have an Oil ASHP Hybrid. We used a Viessmann Vitocal 200A 10kw ASHP. The DHW cylinder was then taken off twin coil from the boiler and given a single coil and the ASHP had a coil. This gives the ultimate in efficiency and contingency for hot water as we have three technologies into the cylinder. The plant room is now busting at the seams with equipment, it was already the smallest plant room I have ever done, now needing a 200L buffer, an indoor unit and all the pipework to go with it. I had to completely re wire the plant room as the ASHP was now the lead appliance. By using an ESBE three port valve we could introduce the oil boiler if the ASHP couldn’t keep up with demand. The Viessmann ASHP has such a fantastic control facility that even though we have a large number of heating circuits, it managed to swap over easily, despite a lot of re wiring and programming. So, the customer has complete control of the system from the heat pump to the app. We had one problem during this project other than space, the water quality in that area is very hard. This meant that some of the underfloor heating circuits started to get some deposits – so we tested it and found the hardness to be particularly high, which was causing the deposits. So, I bought my Elysator Purotap Leader in to refill the system, doing every circuit by themselves, every loop and the whole system was tested to get a decent demin reading. For belt and braces we installed an Elysator Trio, this degasses water, attracts acids and removes particles and is the only product of its kind on the market. The water is now in perfect condition and is the perfect medium to carry the heat around the system.

Tell us what was different or unique about this job? Why does it stand out?

The project for me has been one of my greatest results, the small space, the multiple circuits, the range of technology, the old and new combing. The fact the customer has been willing to trial new ways and believed in me as I have impressed him along the way constantly. I have tried to express my love for the job through the pipework and overall design. I also tried to think ahead as much as possible in order to give the customer that end game of efficiency and low running costs. Of course, there has been some investment from the customer, but this is because he wanted to push technology to see how far he can go and what the right and wrongs are. Although, at the end of the day, it was worth it as he has been so happy with the result and the amount he can tweak and almost have a play with his energy usage to suit his needs at any one moment.

And finally, tell us what the end result was for your customer?

The customer has been so happy with the work I have done that we have actually grown out of just a work relationship – in fact, the client has asked me about his other properties and has nearly taken me to a project in another country to look at a boiler there too. It’s been a pleasure being part of a unique project and being trusted with such an investment. I always smile when walking into the plant room knowing that everything works in harmony and my design has been proven to work and provides the property with all the heat and hot water it needs. The bonus being now it has given me a great project on my portfolio to offer to other clients in the future.