Co-operative Lowers Bills and Emissions with Heat Recovery Boiler Technology

29/05/2013 

The Co-operative’s food store in Dagenham is now benefiting from a new VRF (Variable Refrigerant Flow) air conditioning system that transfers excess heat to a heat pump boiler to provide all the hot water the store needs. 

The installation has enabled The Co-operative to get rid of the assortment of old oil-fuelled heaters and electrical cooling equipment, which were inefficient and costly to run and left some parts of the store cold, whilst overheating others.

Building and environmental specialists Stewart Anthony Ltd were tasked with coming up with a solution that reduced running costs and lowered emissions at the store, in keeping with The Co-operative’s environmental ethos.  The solution is a system linking Mitsubishi Electric’s PWFY heat pump boiler to a City Multi VRF R2 heat recovery system to provide both heating and cooling and sanitary hot water to the premises.

The PWFY unit sits in the store’s plant room in place of the old oil boiler and is linked to both the air conditioning and the hot water cylinder.  It uses excess heat from the VRF system and transfers it to the hot water supply.  It can achieve a flow temperature of 70ºC and is an ideal solution for providing a hot water supply to commercial buildings in an energy efficient manner.

“I was convinced that the combination of a heat pump boiler running off VRF air conditioning was the best way to provide the store with what they were looking for and it wasn’t difficult for me to convince The Co-operative of its ability either,” explained Ian Tarry, Director of Stewart Anthony.

Linking the air conditioning with the PWFY boiler makes the most effective use of any excess heat from the air conditioning, reducing energy usage and costs for the store.  Pre-piped water connections to flow and return headers also help to make installation quick and easy, whatever the application.

Space-saving City Multi R2 units have been fitted outside the building which link to indoor ceiling cassettes in the store to ensure an even and pleasant temperature throughout. Mitsubishi Electric’s unique VRF system uses two pipes to simultaneously heat and cool the building rather than the standard three pipes needed with others. This helps to reduce both installation time and the costs of materials.

“We wanted a new system that would reduce the store’s energy use and its CO2 output and provide our customers and staff with a comfortable shopping environment,” said The Co-operative’s Regional Energy and Environmental Manager, Nick Cairns.  “Any work involved also had to be carried out quickly and quietly and create the least possible disruption to our trading.”

To achieve this, the store needed the perfect partnership between Mitsubishi Electric’s easy to install, high-quality, technically advanced products and the experience and skill of Stewart Anthony who understood The Co-operative’s need to work smart.

“In the case of The Co-operative, our expertise and years of experience in this business meant that we knew the PWFY was the perfect solution for the job,” said Stewart Anthony’s Mr Tarry. “And we were even able to comply with The Co-operative’s waste disposal policy by recycling all the old system parts we had removed, using Mitsubishi Electric’s end-of-life disposal scheme.”

Mitsubishi Electric has designed the PWFY heat pump boiler to deliver hot water and air conditioning from a single system making the unit suitable for a wide variety of applications from offices, gyms, restaurants and hotels, as well as retail outlets. The PWFY can often be retro-fitted to existing air conditioning systems offering the perfect solution to high efficiency hot water and air conditioning, and helping to control and reduce running costs and emissions levels.

Ends

Note to editor:

Founded in 1921, Mitsubishi Electric is a global, market leading, environmental technologies manufacturer, producing an advanced range of heating, air conditioning and ventilation equipment. The company realises that ensuring the right solutions are selected for each individual building, requires collaboration by all involved. Mitsubishi Electric has therefore changed the way it does business to ensure engagement with all involved in delivering sustainable buildings so that together, we can make a world of difference.

For further editorial information please contact:

Russell Jones                                       Email: russell.jones@meuk.mee.com
PR & Communications Manager             Telephone: 01707 278772

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