Lancaster Town Hall updates with equipment from Baxi Commercial
Baxi Commercial has supplied three Potterton Commercial floor-standing condensing boiler and an Andrews Water Heaters’ gas-fired storage water heater as part of a thorough upgrade of an obsolete system at Lancaster Town Hall. This imposing Edwardian building was opened in 1909 and is now mainly a prestigious venue for meetings, exhibitions, banquets and the celebration of marriages and civil partnerships.
With such a wide range of functions, a flexible and efficient system was required.
The previous system comprised nine modular atmospheric boilers, a dedicated boiler for domestic hot water and two large calorifiers. There were obsolete parts on the boilers, resulting in only three functional units. The calorifiers stored too much water for the potential use and were connected to a poorly functioning circulation system.
The circulation system was rectified and the volume of stored water reduced by using the rapid heating capability of the storage water heater. It has a capacity of 300 l and can deliver up to 510 l/h. Water is stored at 60°C and delivered at 56°C to each thermostatic mixer valve with an outlet temperature of 41°C. Hot water is generated in condensing mode for up to 80% of the tank’s capacity.
The space-heating boilers were selected for having waterways that were not overly small to reduce the risks associated with installation in an existing system. The heating system has been converted from open-vented to pressurised with an expansion vessel. A sealed flue replaces the previous flue, which terminates up through the chimney stack. The boilers serve existing radiators, with new control valves, and air-conditioning units.
All the equipment is connected to the site’s BMS, which provides weather compensation, zone control and logging of gas usage via dedicated gas meters.
The new equipment was installed in the basement plant room by Pinington Construction.
