Colchester Football Club has been a vaccination centre during the pandemic and when a new heating system was required for the vaccination area, a Grant Aerona³ air source heat pump was installed to keep this essential resource up to temperature.
Initially, the NHS set up a temporary tent at the Club to enable nurses and volunteers to deliver vaccines to local residents, but the decision was later made to transfer the vaccine centre to a more permanent area inside the stadium.
The concourse area of the grounds was selected as the suitable site, an area which had previously been used on match day for food outlets and consequently, it did not have its own heating system.
Local G1 Installers, Blueflame Colchester, were approached to identify and install a suitable and sustainable heating system for the vaccination centre at the Club.
“Colchester Football Club are trying to be as green as possible,” said James Mealing, director at Blueflame Colchester. “The concourse did not have its own heating system before so it made sense to install a completely new heating system to this area, independent of the rest of the stadium, that would meet the temperature requirements of the NHS while also being as green and efficient as possible.”
A renewable system featuring an Aerona³ 17kW air source heat pump was designed and installed. For this installation, the heat pump has been set up to provide heating only partnering with new radiators to ensure that the concourse area was kept warm to the desired temperature. “We also had a custom header and decoupler made for setting the correct flow rates and water volume within the system,” added James.
The 17kW Aerona³ is a twin fan heat pump and is the largest model in Grant’s air to water heat pump range.
The new heat pump was installed in the early autumn and it has since been operating to ensure that the concourse area and its vaccination hub remains warm, especially through the colder months of winter.