Schools & Universities

Background

Unite, one of the UK’s largest managers and developer of student accommodation, were looking for an alternative to electric convection heaters in their student properties. A site in Huddersfield was chosen to use Herschel.

A key attraction was to find heaters that were more efficient, a slimmer profile and could be wall or ceiling mounted offering options to save space in the rooms and reduced fire risk from students drying clothes on the heaters.

Solution

• Herschel Select white 540W white panels and Select XL 600W white panels were installed replacing 1.2kW convector heaters. A combination of wall and ceiling mounted positions were chosen.
• Unite used their own monitoring equipment to compare consumption
• Existing Prefect programmable air-thermostat controls were used to control both heater types

Results

• Herschel panel consumption was recorded lower overall than the convector heaters, up to 40% across the sample.
• Feedback from occupiers has been very positive. “After 5-10 minutes, you can feel the heat and it takes around 15 minutes to heat the whole room”. “It’s a nice temperature and the room stays warm overnight.” “Last year I’d have to turn it (convector heater) on in the morning, I can’t say I’ve had to do that this year.”
• Unite staff and students were impressed with the lower consumption and feeling of heat. They are now considering extending trials and using Herschel on a number of other sites.

Additional benefits identified by Unite:

• Herschel panels have no openings or vents, reducing the risk of items / dust etc building up and coming into contact with the heating elements.
• Less movement of air means that dust and allergies aren’t circulated around the room.
• Increase in blood circulation from infrared being absorbed by the body with associated health benefits such as reducing joint stiffness, boosting immune functionality and detoxing.

Background

The college was looking at installing infrared heating at its flagship campus to warm the reception staff desk. The desk faces the main entrance automatic doors. The ceiling height is 8 metres, the design is open plan and walls and ceilings are mainly concrete, floor slate.  The area gets cold in the winter and the existing heaters are inefficient and ineffective due to space volume, stratification and air changeover as well as being unsightly.

Solution

Pulsar heaters are hung with 2.96m from the underside of the heater to the floor.  A chain and shackle system has been used to hang the heaters from an eye bolt that is fixed through the concrete slab overhead, with a 5m drop from the ceiling above to the eye bolt on top of the heaters.  The heaviness of the chain has stopped the potential for sway caused by wind coming through the reception doors.

Currently the heaters are controlled via 7 day timers.  In time, these will be integrated with their BMS system so they come on automatically under pre-defined parameters.

Testimonial

“We successfully installed the Herschel Pulsar units at our site in Paddington.  They look great and are working very well keeping the reception staff comfortable.  I am surprised by how effective they actually are considering the kW rating of the units.

To sum up why I am so happy with the heaters:

The heaters provide a natural feeling warmth that gently raises the temperature of the occupants and surrounding area.  The heaters are not obtrusive in their workings, they warm the people and surrounding surfaces without ever feeling like artificial heat.

They have proved great for our staff morale, are very safe and overcome the challenges on our site around air flow and stratification.  A very elegant solution. Thanks for such a great product and the advice around the installation”.

Floyd Milligan, City of Westminster College, Paddington Green, W2 1NB