A community sports centre in Stockport is believed to be among the first in the country to install specialist renewable heating technology in its club house, after it was awarded £70,000 in grants.
Burnage Rugby Football Club, in Heaton Mersey, will have heated changing rooms for the first time after installing a Mitsubishi Electric Ecodan PUHZ 14kW air to water monobloc heat pump, and the hot water for showers is now provided by an Ecodan CAHV 43kW air to water monobloc heat pump. Both air source heat pumps will be partly powered by photovoltaic cells from the Low Carbon Energy Company, which have been fitted to the roof.
As well as an increase in comfort inside the clubhouse in the last six weeks, the club is already reporting a dramatic drop in fuel bills.
Club member Stuart Hogg explained: “We had an electric hot air system before and it wasn’t very effective. Our bills had reached £15,000 a year, and they were only going in one direction. We looked at the options and although they did require some capital investment, we knew they would prove their worth in the long term so we applied for grants.
“We were looking for a solution that reduced our carbon footprint, but our primary objective was to reduce our bills because we want to make our club as affordable as possible to the 10,000 people who come through the doors each year.”
The Ecodan CAHV system, which has been approved by the Microgeneration Certification Scheme, uses advanced air source heat pump technology to provide a building’s heating and hot water. As the Ecodan is a factory-sealed unit, installation is straightforward without the need for any refrigeration work on site. Built-in weather compensation enables better control and increases the efficiency to deliver year-round high performance.