Finding ways to boost heating efficiency and cut energy wastage is currently front of mind for many people. However, this can become even more prevalent in accommodation with shared communal areas.
Housing provider, Together Housing, which manages homes for rent, shared ownership, and sale across the North of England, had a challenge to improve energy efficiency at its Kilburn Court site. In looking for a solution, the company turned to the team at Resideo for support and advice.
Geoff Wallis, Repairs Team Coordinator for Together Housing commented; “The building at Kilburn Court consists of 19 one-bedroom apartments with shared communal and corridor areas. Heated by commercial boilers, each apartment has a heat interface unit (HIU) and an individual heating control – allowing occupants to control the temperature as required in their own homes and monitor how much they are paying for the energy being used.
“The communal radiators are also powered by commercial boilers and the cost for the energy used in these areas is then shared between the residents.
“We wanted to ensure that the most effective system was in place to avoid residents having to pay for more than they needed for the energy being consumed outside of their property. Equally, the communal rooms were often getting hotter than needed, so we wanted to put greater control in place to achieve better levels of comfort for residents.
“For an effective solution, we approached Resideo to see if they could recommend upgrades that would help us tackle these issues head on.”
Finding an effective solution
It is often said that a simple upgrade can make a big difference, and this was clearly demonstrated at Kilburn Court. Each of the 24 radiators through the shared areas had thermostatic radiator valves (TRVs) in place, offering a certain level of control for residents. However, the TRVs were not able to give accurate temperature readings and couldn’t be programmed easily which resulted in the communal areas of the building often being too hot and uncomfortable.
Following an initial assessment, the Resideo team suggested that the current TRVs were upgraded to allow residents to have better control over the temperature in Kilburn Court’s communal areas.
Gareth Sellers, business development manager (North) at Resideo, comments; “The impact that the right radiator heating controls can have on the effectiveness of a heating system is so often overlooked.
“When we visited Kilburn Court, we suggested that the most effective way to quickly improve efficiency without replacing the complete system, was to swap out the current TRV heads for Honeywell Home HR90 electronic radiator controllers.
“The beauty of these electronic radiator controllers is that they incorporate an ECO energy saving mode that we knew would optimise fuel usage and efficiency. The HR90 controllers also have a time program where the temperature in different areas could be set and controlled independently as needed – ideal for Kilburn Court. The display on the HR90 control is also backlit, making it easy for residents to read the set temperature and mode the controller is set to and making ongoing monitoring straight-forward. In addition, a locking function can be set to avoid the controls being tampered with unnecessarily.
“The installation process was straightforward – the heating could be left on whilst the installation took place, with no requirement to drain the system down – meaning minimal disruption for the occupants whilst the controllers were being installed. Theft protection for both the batteries and the device add extra peace of mind for residents.”
The results
Geoff continues; “At Together Housing, we have been delighted with the results and the tangible cost savings that have been achieved from this relatively small change.
“We are one year into the project and have been monitoring the impact the HR90 controllers have had. In the last 12-months, the heating system at Kilburn Court has used 31,572 fewer kWh when compared to the same period in the previous year. This equates to a 13% reduction in energy costs since the HR90s were put in place.
“The installation was straightforward, and the controllers were operational quickly, which is another bonus when you are working on a site with multiple occupants to consider. I think the savings and the results speak for themselves.”
