Archbishop Ilsley School

Five Remeha Quinta Ace 160 condensing boilers and an Andrews Water Heaters ECOflo EC380/1400 condensing water heater have been installed at Archbishop Ilsley School in Birmingham to supply energy-efficient heating and hot water with reduced environmental impact.

This large secondary school and sixth form college provides excellent sports facilities for its students that are also available for hire by the wider community. Dated non-condensing boilers and an ageing hot water cylinder previously served the sports hall, gymnasium, swimming pool, changing rooms and shower facilities.

When the time came to replace the old plant, reliability and energy efficiency were the key requirements for the School. Mechanical heating engineers Spa Gas installed the new school boilers and water heater.

"Reliability was a priority for the School to achieve and maintain a comfortable environment within the sports centre, while providing hot water for the swimming pool and showers. Energy efficiency was also a major consideration to avoid unnecessarily high bills and emissions.”

Mark Fry, Director, Spa Gas

Five Remeha Quinta Ace 160 boilers, with a combined output of 800 kW, high gross efficiencies of up to 99% and ultra-low NOx emissions, were selected as the most energy-efficient solution to meet the fluctuating demand for space heating. With a one-piece cast aluminium heat exchanger designed for reliable, high performance, these condensing boilers offer long-term high heating efficiencies at the School and cleaner, more environmentally-friendly operation.

The Quinta Ace is one of the largest output wall-hung boilers on the European market with an unrivalled output to physical size ratio. Back-to-back and linear cascade options for up to eight boilers provide specifiers and contractors with greater design flexibility which is particularly beneficial in plant rooms with restricted available space.

Installing fully-modulating boilers in a cascade arrangement increases the turndown ratio which allows them to meet fluctuating heat demand more accurately and reduce energy waste. This configuration also supports non-disruptive future servicing and maintenance.

“The ability to cascade the five boilers not only resulted in a neat, compact installation, but made the project simpler and faster,” Mark said. “In fact, the biggest challenge was getting the old boilers out of the plant room!”

The hot water supply for the School’s sports facilities was met by an Andrews Water Heaters ECOflo fully-condensing direct-fired water heater. The installed unit has a storage capacity of 380 litres, an output of 79.1 kW and a recovery rate of 1400 litres/hour at a 50°C temperature rise. This water heater range features a low NOx pre-mix power burner and a gross efficiency of up to 98% to keep running costs to a minimum.

“We have installed a lot of Remeha and Andrews Water Heaters products over the years and would always recommend them for their proven reliability,” added Mark. “This is backed up by the excellent aftersales support provided and good availability of parts.”

The new boilers and water heater have been commissioned for optimum performance. Now fully operational, Archbishop Ilsley School is benefiting from the more reliable, energy-saving heating and hot water provision and anticipating lower energy costs moving forward.

“We’re very pleased with how the work has gone,” said a school spokesperson. “There was minimal disruption during the changeover and we’re delighted that the heating system has been working well ever since.”