A South-west based specialist building services contractor has put together a full package of renewable and underfloor heating products, from the OMNIE range, to meet the energy and comfort ambitions for a striking new housing development on the Cornish coast. The nine properties at Bedruthan Steps, a few miles from Padstow, are being constructed by regional builder, Karn Havos Developments, while Sadler and Bourne from Liskard is the long-term supplier of OMNIE heating products, undertaking a full design and installation package for the heating, hot water and heat recovery ventilation systems.
While the company has experience of installing OMNIE’s ground source heat pumps on other sites in Devon and beyond, site conditions at Bedruthan led the firm to propose the use of the compact, high performance LWD50 air source heat pumps along with 50mm Foilboard Floating panels over the concrete sub-floors, connected via the manufacturer’s Precision-Flo manifolds. The three-bedroom dwellings’ inverted layout requires just a three-port manifold upstairs where the lounge, dining area and kitchen are located to maximise the stunning views, while an eight-port version downstairs serves the three bedrooms, two en-suites, family bathroom and utility room.
A 300-litre storage vessel is kept topped up with hot water by the LWD50 air source heat pump to serve the multiple outlets, while one of OMNIE’s fully designed mechanical ventilation and heat recovery systems using the widely specified ComfoQ 350 HR units extracts moist air from the kitchen and bathrooms, supplying fresh warm air to the bedrooms and living areas. Combined with the well insulated timber frame construction for the homes, the integrated OMNIE package and advanced electronic control systems will enable residents to maintain a comfortable living environment at a low cost, even when the worst of the Atlantic storms are blowing outside.
Managing Director, Carl Sadler commented: “We cover the whole of the South-West doing plumbing, heating and renewable installation projects for domestic and commercial customers and have been partnering with OMNIE for 10 years now – originally being a user of its underfloor heating systems, before fitting the company’s air and ground source heat pumps when they launched a couple of years later. In the case of the Bedruthan development, we got involved as the building services supplier early on in the planning phase and designed the full package in conjunction with OMNIE’s technical consultants. Bringing gas onto the site was never considered so the LWD50 air source heat pump was ideal and we specified Foilboard Floating for the system’s excellent energy transfer performance.
Importantly for our work, we do not need to be MCS certificated to offer clients the OMNIE heat pumps, as the company takes care of all the certification matters and carries out the final commissioning – enabling the client to apply for the RHI* payments.”
OMNIE’s LWD air source heat pumps are produced by the highly respected German manufacturer, Alpha-InnoTec with the 5 to 9 kW output models not only being MCS approved, but also offering high efficiency and very quiet operation, as well as a long low maintenance working life.