Menu
Close

Premium aged care provider in Christchurch

The client had an existing underfloor heating system which was driven by aging air to water heat pumps. The system wasn’t performing well and was unreliable at critical times. The system was designed with two much larger heat pumps, this designed required that quite often one heat pump was off and the other was short cycling because the load of the building was lower than what one unit on low modulation could provide. The revised design allowed a much wider modulating range both reducing running costs and increasing reliability. Moving to a more advanced control system also allowed the client to run the system in cooling mode during the summer, which greatly reduced the load on the air based cooling system - increasing the comfort and reducing the overall running costs.

What were the main challenges or issues faced by the client that required the assistance of Waterware to resolve?

This was a re-powerment project, the existing heat pumps we unreliable and the client wanted to be able to provide a cooling option via the floor in summer.

What were the critical requirements that needed to be taken into consideration during the hot water production & heating solution implementation?

Critical requirement was to provide a reliable solution with the ability to modulate to meet the demand and provide redundancy in the event of an issue

What specific solution did Waterware provide to address the client’s hot water production needs?

An array of Vaillant arotherm heat pumps operating in cascade to meet the required duty.  The VRC700 controller provides a temperature compensation function in the winter which varies the water temperature to meet the demand, and maximise efficiency. In the summer time the system varies the water temperature to avoid the forming of condensation on the radiant surface.

In what ways does Waterware’s solution differentiate itself from other solutions available in the market?

The solution is unique in that it can take an existing underfloor heating system and add a cooling function to the system for summer operation.

What were the key products or technologies utilized in Waterware’s solution for the client?

Vaillant aroTHERM heat pumps in cascade controlled by a VRC700 controller.

How can Waterware extend its expertise and assistance to other projects in the field of hot water & heating?

Waterware is developing experience and expertise in this field and can apply it’s leanings to a wide range of decarbonization projects.

 

Written by Darren Yearsley