How we helped our clients improve the efficiency of their heating system and comfort of their new home
We are often asked to give heating system advice for apartments. In this case we were advising clients who had just bought a 2 bedroom apartment in South East London. They were wanting to understand the best options for improving the heating arrangements and boosting the general energy efficiency of their home.
THE PROJECT
Although our client’s apartment was only built in the 1980’s it had no mains gas supply. The main rooms were heated via electric storage, but there was no heating at all in the bathroom. Their hot water was provided via a cylinder with an immersion heater in cupboard next to the bathroom. There were no controls other than on and off buttons, and the whole system was very unsuited to their needs.
THE CHALLENGE
Our clients found us via Google. We now offer a virtual advice consultancy service for clients with smaller construction projects, or for those who want a quick response to a specific heating or hot water system question. This service enables us to help clients wherever they are in the country and gives a faster turnaround to simple problems.
Our client’s brief to us was as follows:-
- What is the most cost effective way to update our heating and hot water systems?
- How can we reduce our ongoing heating and hot water running costs?
- How can we ensure that we can have hot water and heat whenever we need it?
THE SOLUTION
We started off by getting our clients to upload their apartment layout plans and notes into our BuilderTrend system. Our heating system expert Rob Bohm then talked with our clients via videocall to establish how they actually lived in the flat. Understanding our clients working patterns and lifestyles are key to ensure we develop the best solutions.
THE RESULT
As a result of these discussions we recommended that underfloor heating should be installed throughout the flat (including the bathroom!). In this instance we suggested fitting the system over the existing floor. This could be done with minimum disruption and a new suitable flooring could be then placed over it. We suggested investing in a highly efficient wall-mounted air source heat pump to run the underfloor heating system. We gave indicative costs for the work involved, and outlined the financial help that may be available via the government’s Renewable Heating Incentive scheme.
We also suggested an upgrade to their existing hot water arrangements. We proposed that hot water could continue to be provided via an immersion heater system. However this would be an upgraded system with programmable timers and two separate heating elements. This dual element system is designed to take advantage of off-peak electricity tariffs. Within the tank there is a long element, which when wired correctly, will heat the bulk of the water in the hot water cylinder using off-peak electricity. The second, shorter element is there to provide a rapid boost if and when it is required.
CLPM Services used by our client:-
Heating Consultancy carried out remotely via our Construction Guru Masterclass service.
Buying a new property is exciting but it can be frustrating to live in a home without a modern central heating and hot water system. By getting CLPM to review their heating arrangements as soon as they moved in our clients were able to include the heating improvements into their refurbishment plans.