CHP is key to reducing fuel bill for sheltered housing
A Dachs CHP unit is contributing to a 30% reduction in the fuel bill for sheltered housing near Newcastle. It was supply by Baxi-SenerTec UK and installed alongside Potterton MB modular boilers to replacing the aging district-heating system serving the 32 flats in Lincoln Court in Hebburn.
The 5.5 kW of electricity supplements the landlord supplies to the corridors, common areas and the social lounge. It is used for security lighting, lifts and preheating hot water for the washing machines. The thermal output is about 15.5 kW.
Each flat has a typical average trickle demand of 200 to 500 W of heat, even during the summer, so electricity can be provided all year round.
The CHP unit acts as a lead boiler. Each flat has an indirect Elson tank, and direct-acting valves are fitted to the primary LTHW mains to control the tanks, which are used as a heat sink for the thermal output from the CHP.
Design engineer Michael Cockram of South Tyneside Council explains, ‘Central power stations operate at around 35% efficiency and conventional heating at about 80%. The Dachs burns about 30% leas fuel than independent production of heat and electricity, reducing both carbon emissions and costs, but still produces the same total output.
