New plant slashes gas costs in Cornish leisure centre
The gas bill of Carn Brea, the largest community-based leisure centre in Cornwall, has fallen by 30% since the installation of two Hamworthy Dorchester condensing water heaters and a Wessex ModuMax condensing modular boiler. The new plant replaced old and inefficient 2000 kW gas-fired boilers dating back to the 1970s and has also increased reliability and reduced maintenance. The installation of the new equipment formed part of a major refurbishment programme, which was partly funded by Cornwall Council.
Alex Clifton, manager of the centre, said, ‘Evidence to date shows savings of £8000 on our Winter gas bill and a further £4000 in Summer.’
The boiler heating system and DHW are now separated, providing many seasonal benefits, and serves the main and learner swimming pools, central heating and air-handling units.
The two Dorchester 95 kW fast-recovery water heaters have a continuous output of 1800 l/h through a 44 K temperature rise. They have a combined storage capacity of 920 l of hot water for showers and general hygiene.
The new boiler is a Wessex ModuMax 250/500c modular condensing boiler. The installation was completed with a factory-assembled and tested Hamworthy manifold kit, a boiler sequencing cascade controller and a Chesil FTE floor-standing twin-pump pressurisation unit.
Technical advisor for the project was GPJ Consulting of Redruth. Installation work was carried out by Kier Facilities Services.
