Rinnai is top of the bill at Birmingham Hippodrome
The need to crane replacement water heaters onto the roof of the Birmingham Hippodrome, with all its consequent disruption, was avoided by installing Rinnai continuous-flow water heaters. Two HD50i internal units serve over 130 tap outlets and 20 showers directly off the mains.
It was when one of the old water-heater storage units failed that prompt action was needed to provide a replacement system. A short trawl on the Internet by Brian Smith, deputy manager of the facilities department, for alternative solutions led to him discovering the Rinnai web site and identifying compact water heaters that would be easy to handle into place without special equipment.
The new water heaters were installed by Spa Gas of Birmingham. The faulty water heater was first removed and replaced with a Rinnai unit. The second old water heater was then dismantled and replaced with the other Rinnai unit — so the supply of hot water was never interrupted.
To be totally sure that there would be no loss of hot water and to avoid disturbance to the theatre’s normal routine, the work was carried out between 11 p.m. and 8 a.m. over two nights.
The theatre caters for 800 to 2000 people a day in hospitality through its four kitchens, including a full-service kitchen, servery kitchen and hospitality satellites — as well as the Green Room (for staff and performers) and four bars.
Rinnai HD50i water heaters have an output of 54 kW and can deliver 26 l/min raised by 25 K.
