Task: First heat pump commissioned
This week marked a major milestone in the project as the first ground source heat pump was commissioned.
Mike Pogson, the Kensa project manager, used this installation to further enhance the practical training of the on-site engineers. He started by showing the team how to fill and flush the ground side pipework to ensure that as much air as possible is removed from the pipework. It’s important to remove the air otherwise the system will require regular bleeding and topping up in the first few days. Mike also added the glycol to the pipework and allowed this to circulate around the system to ensure it was fully mixed. The glycol ensures the fluid circulating in the ground will not freeze during winter.
While the ground side pipework was being filled with glycol, the plumbers filled the internal heating distribution system and ensured that as much air was removed as possible from this system. Once the whole system was filled, the heat pump was switched on. There was lots of interest with six people trying to squeeze into a small cupboard to see this momentous occasion!
The heat pump came on and it only took a few minutes for the radiators to start getting hot. The plumbers and electricians were surprised at just how quickly the heat pump was able to heat the water. The system wasn’t run for very long as it was a hot day and so there is still no need for the heating to be on. The heat pump then quickly heated up the 150 litre unvented hot water cylinder. The tenant has already noticed the improvement in water pressure at her taps now that she has an unvented cylinder in place of a vented cylinder.
Mike then spent some time with the tenant showing her how to use the controls which consist of a twin channel programmer (to set timer schedules for heating and hot water) and a dial thermostat. He set the timer schedules up to suit the tenant’s lifestyle and also left her an instruction sheet. She was delighted with her new heating system and also commented on how well the internal team had worked, always leaving her home clean and tidy when they left site.
By the end of the week, it is expected that another four systems will be fully installed. These will be commissioned early next week while the internal plumbing teams then move into new flats to start more installs.
The project is on schedule to be completed by the end of September in time for the heating season.
Next week’s key project stage: More heat pumps in and commissioned
Keep following our blog to stay up to date with this brilliant first project between Kensa Heat Pumps and Hanover Housing Association.
Project in brief:
- 22 flats – 21 are 1 bedroom and 1 is a 2 bedroom flat;
- Built in 1977;
- Heated by electric night storage heaters which have reached the end of their useful life and need replacing;
- Residents aged 55 +;
- A Kensa Shoebox ground source heat pump (6kW) to be installed inside each flat;
- New 150 litre unvented hot water cylinders in each flat;
- New radiators in each flat;
- New heating controls in each flat, which will be much easier for the residents to use;
- A ground source heat pump for the site office;
- 12 boreholes will be drilled with depths up to 154 metres to form a communal ‘micro district ground source heat pump system’.
Read more about the background to this first project between Hanover Housing Association and Kensa Heat Pumps here.
