Replacing 10-year old boilers saves a third on energy consumption
Replacing poorly performing boilers with high-efficiency condensing boilers is achieving energy savings of up to 35% for healthcare provider Spire Healthcare. The new installation comprises two Imax Xtra boilers from Ideal Commercial, and the energy savings they are achieving means that Spire Hull & East Riding Hospital is already well below its 2015 energy-saving target.
Steve Jarratt, facilities manager at the hospital, explains, ‘The boilers provide heat to the radiators throughout the hospital and feed heating coils in the operating-theatre air-handling units, as well as supplying domestic hot water. The existing boilers, which were installed in 2001, simply lack the efficiencies which modern condensing boilers are capable of. Spire aims to be at the forefront of energy and patient-care targets, so bring the system up to date was extremely important.’
The hospital’s trusted installation supplier, Briggs Burners, recommended the Imax Xtra F400. These boilers have premix burners that modulate down to 20% of full output and a maximum output with both modules on of 800 kW, with a minimum output from one module of 40 kW.
To ensure continuity of heat and hot water, the installation was divided into two phases.
In the first phase, one boiler was split into its sections and stair lifted into position — overcoming limited access to the roof-top plant room. It was installed in the space occupied by the original boiler and put into operation.
The second phase involved a crane to remove the very heavy existing boiler sections. The crane also lifted the second Imax boiler into place.
The entire installation required just two engineers on site.
Steve Jarratt says, ‘We’ve got an independent company monitoring the performance for us, and we’re saving between 22 and 35% on gas consumption.
