New Build, ASHP, UFH & MVHR, Norfolk

Mr & Mrs B bought their dream house, which was an old farmhouse, unfortunately they discovered it needed demolishing which led them into a 7 month process with the planning department and there were many planning restrictions for the property.

They built a new home on the site, using the reclaimed flints from the previous farmhouse. The property was off the gas grid and the planning restrictions were mainly around the storage of oil for oil heating. This led the clients to consider other alternatives to oil for heating the new property as they also wanted to reduce heating and hot water costs and to reduce the impact of oil price fluctuations.

The customer had discovered R A Brown through an online search and visited the R A Brown showroom to discuss their plans and view a working air source heat pump. They originally planned to include solar thermal, however due to a problem with the construction of the south facing roof size, they were unable to fit solar thermal as planned.

Mr B said “Having met Richard, we chose to use R A Brown due to their location, flexibility and professionalism, product knowledge and cost” 

R A Brown engineers fitted a NIBE F2040 12kW ASHP with UFH on both the ground and first floor and a Zehnder Comfoair Q600 Mechanical Heat Ventilation Recovery Unit was fitted to maximise efficiency and provide a healthy air flow.

A simple feature of a secondary return pump was added to the customers system, providing instantly hot water to all hot water outlets in the property. A pipe is fed in a loop from the hot water cylinder to the furthest hot water outlet. With the addition of a ‘bronze’ pump designed for potable water the hot water is circulated around the loop allowing hot water to be instantly available at each outlet. For larger properties this feature is a must for comfort and helps water conservation. If coupled with a timeclock, the running hours of the pump can be scheduled with the customer’s lifestyle and the efficiency of the system will be improved.

Mr & Mrs B’s property came out at a score of 3.1 on the natural air change test which is completed on new builds. The minimum standard is a score of 10 and a passive house score is a 2.5. If a property score is less than a 5, then an MVHR system needs to be fitted, to ensure the home has a healthy air change.
Mr B has said “We are very happy with the installation, the house is now completely draft free and the heating system is up and running, we are overjoyed with the comfort the system has given us”