Two Evomax 80kW wall hung boilers from Ideal Commercial Boilers have been specified and installed at Appletree Court, the Head Office for New Forest District Council in Lyndhurst, and are providing high efficiency space heating for the whole East Wing of the building.
Originally built nearly 100 years ago, Appletree Court has undergone a variety of expansion projects over the years, including the addition of the East Wing in 1967. Heating was formerly provided to the wing via a system consisting of system boilers and an outside fan heater, which in turn fed low temperature wall heaters situated throughout the building. This system was incredibly unreliable and would often fail when outside temperatures dropped below -1°C, so the objective behind the refurbishment was not only to improve efficiency, but also to ensure the system would be fully operational throughout the year.
The new 80kW Evomax boilers were specified by Council engineer Rob Sowden, who has been responsible for a programme of refurbishments across numerous council sites, replacing old inefficient appliances with Evomax boilers where suitable.
Rob explained, “These are definitely our commercial boilers of choice as they are straightforward to install, commission and operate and they offer some of the highest efficiencies on the market, which has resulted in impressive cumulative savings for the council across numerous sites.”
In addition to offering efficiencies of up to 110% part load and a high 5:1 turndown capacity to minimise fuel use, significant cost savings have also been achieved at Appletree Court due to the compact size of the Evomax. The outside plant room for the East Wing is just 2.8m by 1.2m and the condensing boiler output needed to be in the region of 160kW in order to achieve the flow and return temperatures necessary for the boilers to operate in condensing mode. Initial designs indicated that the East Wing Boiler Room would need to be enlarged to allow the necessary heating plant to be installed and a budget of 65K was raised.
However, Rob was determined that the required outputs could be achieved without extending the boiler room. He said, “The Evomax boilers were my first choice as all models in the range are just one width and height so I knew we would have options with output choices without the necessity for more wall space. I was also able to call on the technical support team at Ideal Commercial Boilers to provide recommendations for flueing and pipework in the confined space, which was extremely helpful. The new design solution was approved, removing the need for a new plant room and saving the council over £30,000.”
As space was so limited, Rob first secured the boilers to the wall before installing and connecting the pipework. The system installation within the plant room took a total of just five days from beginning to end and was conducted during the summer months so the demand for heat within the building was minimal.
Once the Evomax boilers and equipment were installed, Rob replaced the old heaters within the rooms of the East Wing with modern radiators that were carefully sized to meet the demands of the new boilers. As the building was in use throughout the refurbishment project, the radiator installation was completed one room at a time, before the boiler was commissioned and switched on. The new heating system now provides efficient, easy to control heating for council employees.
One of the additional benefits offered by the Evomax range is the optional Frame and Header Kits, which are specifically designed by Ideal Commercial Boilers to enable straightforward installation of Evomax wall hung boilers in cascade, with combined outputs up to 600kW. However, due to the design requiring exceptionally compact dimensions at Appletree Court, bespoke pipework was required in this instance. Rob still found installation to be exceptionally quick and the boilers have been running trouble-free since commissioning.
Appletree Court was originally built in 1919 as a country retreat for a successful shoe manufacturer, forming part of his 25 acre estate. After exchanging ownership a number of times over the years, the house was bought by the New Forest Rural District Council in 1948.
The Council Chamber was built onto the southern end of the original house in 1950 and the East and South Wings were subsequently added in 1967 and 1986 respectively. The building now operates as the Head Office for New Forest District Council, which formed in 1974 with the merging of the New Forest, Ringwood and Fordingbridge, and Lymington councils.
