Technical
Efficient performance starts here
A good technical strategy is essential to the effective management of your heat network. Far too often, housing providers and other heat network operators stick with what they have and replace component and/or equipment like-for-like. This is the easy option but does not consider how it may impact future tender opportunities.
Chirpy Heat has a successful record in securing funding for clients across the UK. This has provided our clients with the extra budget and resource they require to ensure their heat networks are operating at their best. Contact us now to discuss the funding that is available and how you can access it.
If your heat networks are technically robust, they will waste less energy, which in turn leads to reduced heat tariffs for customers, a more reliable heat and hot water supply and lower carbon emissions for your network.
Chirpy Heat can support the technical performance of your heat networks including:
- Getting it right in the first place with our Uniti Heat service for new build heat networks
- Specification, procurement and acceptance testing of new and retrofitted meters
- Desktop efficiency reviews, using readily available data to establish a priority order for system efficiency, focussing on worst performing schemes first
- Site surveys from one of our CIBSE certified heat network specialists, where inspections will be carried out in the plant room, across the distribution system, and within a number of individual dwellings
- Optimisation and Decarbonisation reviews with recommendations on how to optimise the scheme to improve system efficiency, and/or ways in which the scheme can be partially/fully decarbonised in the future
- Repairs and maintenance KPIs, contract management and monitoring, including our Heat Manager Service
Case Study
Our client requested a desktop efficiency review to help understand their heat network portfolio’s performance. Through the review, Chirpy Heat were able to:
- Create a ranking of best to worst scheme efficiencies for their portfolio
- Identify whether the current heat tariffs were generating a surplus or loss
- Highlight areas where data was poor or non-existent
- Advise areas of where metering and billing providers were not meeting their contractual agreements
Following on from this, Chirpy Heat was then commissioned to conduct a site survey at the worst-performing scheme to identify optimisation measures that could be implemented to increase the scheme’s system efficiency. Chirpy Heat found that:
- Primary biomass boilers were either non-operational or were acting as a backup supply to the gas boilers
- External pipework was not insulated and had corroded
- Heat Interface Units (HIUs) had not been regularly maintained in their servicing regime, and had led to calcium build-up in dwellings
- Internal pipework was not insulated, resulting in higher system losses
- None of the flats had Thermostatic Radiator Valves (TRVs), reducing the control the residents had over their heat demand
Chirpy Heat provided an accompanying report after the site visit detailing:
- All findings and concerns
- Measures to be implemented to improve performance
- Cost of measures highlighted
- Recommendations based on health and safety, least resident disruption, quick wins and low cost with high benefits
Our client is now exploring the option to give all heat networks the same health check, with the aim of applying for future funding.
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