Travelodge chooses heat pumps to generate DHW
To help meet the Merton Rule and Building Regulations, Dimplex air-source heat pumps pre-heat domestic hot water for the new £2.6 million Travelodge in Devizes. This hotel has 53 bedrooms and uses three LA28 air-source heat pumps in a project that won the non-domestic installation of the year in the Dimplex 2009 heat-pump awards for accredited installer Micro-Generation Systems.
Andy Brown, technical director for Micro-Generation Systems, says, ‘Air-source heat pumps were the obvious way to go, as solar would not have been suitable for the design of the new hotel, and ground source for a building of this size wasn’t cost effective.
‘We were able to work through all the options with Travelodge and then talk with the planners to show how Dimplex air-source heat pumps would help achieve the percentage of renewable energy to meet the Merton Rule and reduce carbon-dioxide emissions. And we could easily provide the SBEM calculations to show the building’s energy consumption figures.’
The heat pumps installed have a flow temperature of up to 55°C. A defrost cycle minimises energy consumption. Models with two compressors (20 kW and more) such as those at Devizes, incorporate intelligent load switching to maximise compressor life.