Hamworthy Heating recently embarked on a quest to find the oldest installed and working Hamworthy boiler. The search took it up and down the country and ended in Ilford, North East London.

The oldest boilers, three Hamworthy Hydrotherm boilers, have been found in Redbridge Jewish Community Centre and were installed in 1967, the same year the building was built. 

Stuart Turner, national sales manager at Hamworthy Heating said: “I couldn’t believe we found these boilers, they are as old as me! The boilers have been running for 48 years and they have been regularly maintained and well looked after.”

The Hamworthy Hydrotherm boilers were the first modular boilers sold by Hamworthy Heating, who pioneered the use of modular boiler systems. They were introduced to the UK in 1967 with gas and oil fired versions and made of cast iron.

The centre where the boilers are installed is the largest of its kind in Western Europe, delivering social, welfare, education and community programmes to more than 2,000 people every week. The plant room and maintenance is managed by Kier group Ltd.

Stuart continued: “Hamworthy boilers are built and manufactured to last and these boilers certainly prove that. However I’m certain the building could benefit from fuel savings if they upgraded to newer condensing boilers. The building has changed and expanded over the years so the heat demand has most likely changed too.”

The competition saw many entrants from the 1970s and 80s including Hamworthy’s NGR and UR modular boilers. These cast iron boilers have been developed over the years and Hamworthy Heating still manufactures a cast iron boiler that is a perfect replacement, the Purewell VariHeat. The Purewell VariHeat boiler sits on the same footprint as these old boilers with connections in similar places to make replacement easier. It is also the only condensing, pre mix, cast iron boiler available that is compliant with the Energy Related Products directive (ErP).