ACR Journal

NEWS 04 LUXURY HOTEL LOOKS TO PANASONIC A luxury hotel and spa in West Sussex has installed an air conditioning system from Panasonic serving 20 of its 89 bedrooms. The award-winning 5-Star South Lodge Hotel and Spa, set in 93 acres of parkland in Lower Beeding, is part of the Exclusive Hotels group. The location has no gas connection and no previous ductwork for cooling. With the UK now facing higher summer temperatures and the bedrooms in the Sussex wing all being south facing, the hotel was keen to provide guests with ultimate comfort. Manager Dan Wait said: “We were looking for an environmental, sustainable and unobtrusive solution to heat and cool the 20 bespoke bedrooms in the Sussex wing. It was also important that the indoor air quality and well-being of our visitors be considered.” Terry Grayer, managing director of Grayer Services, specified the energy e cient Panasonic 5kW Paci split system. Nineteen rooms have the Panasonic adaptive ducted units and one on the upper roof area has a 60x60 compact cassette unit, all connected to individual outdoor R32 Paci 5kW condensing units housed on the roof of the hotel. All the indoor units also benefit from Panasonic’s nanoe X generators to help improve the comfort and indoor environment, plus each room has an individual controller to operate the heating and cooling function. Bob Cannon, maintenance manager for South Lodge Hotel, said: “The main challenge of installing the units was working around a busy hotel and installing the new hidden ductwork inside the old 3ft thick walls and into the ceilings; – the team managed to install two rooms per week.” Terry Grayer added: “We have used Panasonic units in previous projects and have always found them to be reliable and highly energy e cient, coupled with the fact that we needed a discreet design for the indoor units due to the internal ductwork in the high ceilings. The team was also delighted that the Panasonic units are fitted with the nanoe X generator as standard to help improve the indoor air quality – thus making an ideal solution for this project.” Rooftop Panasonic units at the South Lodge Hotel & Spa in West Sussex February | March 2023 Volume 9 No.2 Bitzer warning over ‘grey’ imports Compressor specialist Bitzer UK has warned UK installers and end users about the risks of attempting to source products through uno cial 'grey' channels, due to the danger of counterfeit equipment and the lack of local technical support for genuine products. Kevin Glass, managing director of Bitzer UK, said: “Everyone is familiar with internet-shopping today, however trying to source equipment via so-called 'grey' import channels, in the hope of getting a good deal, can be fraught with risks. “Products sourced in this way may not be the genuine article. And where equipment is authentic, the all-important technical and after-sales back-up simply isn’t there. In the event of an issue, people can find themselves with a major problem." Bitzer UK and its o cial UK suppliers are unable to provide technical or warranty support for products supplied via unauthorised channels. The volume of 'grey' imports has increased recently, partly due to the growth in online promotion. Bitzer UK is aware of a number of examples where equipment supplied to UK companies via ‘grey’ channels has been non-compliant or failed, resulting in costly problems for the customer and the collapse of major projects. In one case, a UK business purchased a large piece of equipment via a grey channel, for a significant price, only to discover upon delivery that it did not comply with a number of UK regulations. This left the customer with a major problem, with no way of cost- e ectively converting it to ensure compliance in order to use it. As a safeguard against counterfeit products, BITZER marks all compressors and genuine spare parts with a QR code. Customers can verify authenticity using the BITZER SPOT app, available as a free download: https://www.bitzer.de/us/us/tools-archive/apps/ The company also recently announced the creation of a new authorised supplier network, known as the Bitzer Authorised Network of Distributors (BAND), to help strengthen protection for customers. BAND members receive regular training and updates on products and are qualified to advise customers on product selection and application, and provide after-sales and warranty support. In the UK and Ireland, o cial BAND members are Dean & Wood, Thermofrost Cryo and RSL