Heat Pumps Today

28 When Brighton Football Club (R.F.U.), or ‘Brighton Blues’, were working on their accounts and monthly cash flows, the cost of electricity stood out like a sore thumb. A solution to the ‘Energy cost scrum’ for many Rugby Clubs Electricity costs had almost doubled in a year; and this was before the recent surge in electricity costs, with further, significant increases forecast in the months ahead. Off the grid at their ground alongside the A27 London Road to the north of Brighton, they were 100% reliant on electricity to heat the Club House and more importantly heat the hot water for the regular showers required after each match. The Club House, built in 1992 had acquired the name ‘the fridge’ in the coldest months of the year. Reliant on archaic storage heaters that could not heat the Club House area, it was an expensive waste of money. The hot water for the showers was provided via 18kW immersion heaters, heating two huge 2500 litre lagged copper tanks. Due to lime scale build up, these were not working to full efficiency. A third 300 litre cylinder heated water for the referees’ showers, the kitchens and the Club House toilets and was heated by a 3kW immersion heater. The hot water had to be turned on for 36 hours from cold to achieve the levels of heated water required – a cost of close on £210 per week for the two large cylinders – nearly £11,000 a year. With limited thermostat control, the water for showers was heated at around 80°C and had to be October | November 2022 C A S E S T U D Y BB Heat Pumps board at ground Brighton Rugby Club cooled via mixing valves with cold water to bring the temperature down to around 40°C via the pipework for when the showers were taken. For one game or four, all the water had to be heated every time there was a game. Simply put - very expensive and very wasteful. Options to reduce costs Chairman of Mini & Youth at Brighton Rugby and owner of local company BB Heat Pumps is Paul Dunk. He and son Alfie are heating experts and after a lengthy discussion about the options for reducing the heating and hot water costs with the Club, they set about thinking through the heating dilemma. Based in Brighton, East Sussex, they are fully trained and qualified Installation Engineers, specialising in Air-Source Heat Pumps. They hold their own MCS Accreditation* – the Gold Standard in the Industry. Being a member of MCS demonstrates their adherence to defined Industry Standards and gives their clients confidence in their ability and compliance. Paul and Alfie designed a system based around air source heat pumps to solve the club’s predicament. They talked to Caspar Speakman at Unitherm Heating Systems, the largest distributor of heat pumps for leading manufacturer LG in the UK. They designed a system that would see air source heat pumps heating the water using the existing cylinders for both the showers and the club house itself via a number of brand-new radiators. The bar area was heated up to 12°C at all times, boosted to 18°C from 4pm and up to 20°C for match days. This has already been well received by the players and members of the Club. Heating costs will fall further once planned additional levels of insulation are installed in the Club House making it even warmer and cost effective to heat. Installation Two 14kW LG Therma V air to water heat pumps were installed on a concrete base outside the back of the club house. They designed and installed a system in the