Hawthorn Primary School is a co-educational primary academy with a campus comprising several buildings of varying ages and construction types, creating challenges for consistent temperature control and system performance. The existing heating infrastructure, which consisted of two ageing open-flued boilers alongside undersized pipework, had struggled to meet demand efficiently, resulting in high gas consumption and unreliable comfort levels, particularly during colder months.
To address these issues, long-standing Ideal Commercial Heating customer Service 2 (HVAC) Limited was appointed to design and install a new system capable of delivering dependable year-round performance while reducing carbon emissions. The completed installation is a hybrid system combining two 50kW ECOMOD 290HT air source heat pumps with three wall-mounted Evomax 2 150kW commercial condensing boilers operating in cascade providing 450kW of output.
The heat pumps are located externally adjacent to the plant room and feed buffer vessels, while the Evomax 2 boilers are installed internally on an Ideal Heating frame and header kit with pre-formed insulation kits and a plate heat exchanger to ensure separation between the primary and secondary circuits. This configuration allows the heat pumps to satisfy the majority of the school’s heating and hot water demand throughout milder seasons, with the boilers automatically providing support during periods of lower external temperatures.
A building management system (BMS) plays a central role in maximising efficiency by intelligently selecting the most appropriate heat source depending on weather conditions and load requirements. This approach enables the school to maintain comfortable internal environments for pupils and staff while optimising energy use and running costs.
As the project involved an existing education facility rather than a new-build, the system was designed to integrate with much of the original distribution infrastructure. Chris Snowden, Technical Operations Manager at Service 2 (HVAC) Limited, comments: “The benefit of using the ECOMOD 290HT heat pumps within the system is we can create up to 75°C hot water, which means you don’t have to change radiators. We can still run on the original system.” Fan coil units optimised for lower temperature operation were installed in selected areas to further enhance system performance.
To provide separation between the primary and secondary circuits, preventing potential dirty system water from circulating through the new equipment, an Ideal Heating plate heat exchanger (PHEX) was installed.
Installation works included the construction of a dedicated concrete base and secure fencing for the external heat pump units to meet health and safety requirements.
Service 2 (HVAC) Limited also benefited from Ideal Commercial Heating’s free commissioning service on both the heat pumps and boilers, which ensures correct configuration and automatically applies a five-year warranty.
For more information, visit www.idealcommercialheating.co.uk.