In New Forest District Council, 16 socially rented flats had their heating and hot water systems upgraded. Old night storage heaters were replaced with modern electric heaters, and Thermino heat batteries replaced the existing vented hot water cylinders.
The challenge – cutting running costs for social housing tenants
The 1 and 2-bedroom flats in the New Forest have electric showers, mostly in wet rooms. This meant the water from the existing 115l cylinders was only used for sinks and basins and, as the cylinders were installed around 17 years ago, this was no longer the most efficient or cost-effective option.
The vented cylinders were costing the tenants a lot of money to run. Over 50% of residents in the block had actually turned them off, so they were just using the kettle to boil water. This is social housing and people haven’t got an abundance of money, so they don’t want to spend money heating water every day that they’re not going to use. With a Thermino they can just heat what they need, and a lot of the heat will roll over to the next day.
The solution – modern, efficient heaters and hot water system
The hot water cylinders were replaced with a Thermino 70e in the 1-bedroom flats, and a 150e in the 2-beds. The old storage heaters were upgraded to modern models with greater efficiency and controllability. The work in each flat was completed within a day, with minimal disruption and no need for the tenants to move out.
The installations went very smoothly, replacing the hot water cylinder with a Thermino was straightforward. They’re very simple to install. Some of the installations started at 8.30 in the morning and they were powered up by lunchtime.
The benefits – a reliable system with better water pressure
The previous hot water cylinders had poor pressure and were raised off the floor to try and improve this, meaning the tank took up even more space in the cupboard. Tenants now enjoy mains pressure hot water, and benefit from more storage space as the compact Thermino sits directly on the floor.
From the beginning of the project, New Forest District Council specified that Thermino heat batteries should be fitted instead of a standard hot water cylinder, likely down to the reliability of the system, and the fact that no annual maintenance is required.
An installer on site said “the lack of maintenance is also a benefit for installers. They want to fit something that’s going to cost the least amount of time in aftercare. And that’s exactly what the council is thinking from the tenant’s side – they’re looking for longevity in the product, and for it to be a cheaper product for the tenant to run”.
Speaking about installing Sunamp products generally, he said, “I think they’re a really good opportunity for small to medium sized companies to make a nice amount of money each day. It’s newer technology so it’s got unique selling points, and it’s helped us compete with bigger companies.”