A Yorkshire care home provider is said to be reaping the benefits of renewable energy and savings on its energy bills after specifying heat pumps from Danfoss for six Ideal Care Homes across the North and Midlands.
LNT Group, based in Leeds, appointed renewable energy installer Q-Gen, based in Brighouse, West Yorkshire, to install Danfoss' DHP-H Opti Pro ground source heat pumps for the care homes, as part of generating 20 per cent of its energy from renewable sources. The move came about after Lawrence Tomlinson, the chairman of LNT Group, challenged his construction company to use renewable energy in order to provide a more affordable, sustainable source of energy for the care homes they build.

Christine Cooper, managing director of LNT Construction, said: 'We are really proud that we are running sustainable and energy efficient heating systems in our homes. Although this has involved a major capital investment, it will be paid back within eight years, which makes good commercial sense for the LNT Group as well as helping us towards becoming carbon neutral in the longer term.'

She added: 'We chose ground source heat pumps because we recognised the efficiency they offered, which gave us a much greater energy output over other renewable energy sources.'

All six homes also feature solar thermal heating, which uses the sun's energy to generate hot water during the daytime. LNT Construction used underfloor heating, rather than radiators.

Ideal Care Homes expects it will save 40 per cent on its annual energy bills, as a result of the heat pumps.

Two DHP-R 42kW were specified for each of the six homes, with energy sourced from a number of 100m deep bore holes sunk in the ground near the care homes.
Q-Gen is currently completing its sixth care home installation for Ideal Care Homes at Haydock in Merseyside. This follows installations at care homes in Newark, Castleford, Leicester, Newcastle-under-Lyme and Wigan.

Liz MacFarlane, director of Q-Gen, said: 'We have been a Danfoss approved installer for three years and are well aware of the quality of their products, which gives us the reassurance that Ideal Care Homes will enjoy many years of reliable, efficient service from their heat pumps.'

The DHP-R ground source heat pump is said to be perfect for care homes, 'featuring a compact design and wide range of functions. This means it fits within a smaller footprint in the plant room and also requires just one electric feed,' said Danfoss. It added: 'Another benefit with the DHP-R ground source heat pump is that the brine is integrated within the unit, whereas with some other systems it involves a separate unit, meaning the Danfoss heat pumps offer a simpler installation.'

LNT Construction has taken advantage of the Commercial RHI (Renewable Heat Incentive), which provides a tariff payment for every kilowatt of energy produced by the heat pump and the solar thermal system.

Grants are available for commercial heat pump installations through the Renewable Heat Incentive. For more information, visit www.decc.gov.uk

www.uk.heatpumps.danfoss.com