In Lamphey, near Pembroke in
south west Wales, it wasn’t a viable option to
renovate the village hall so funds to build a
replacement were secured. As work commenced, Ian
Parkhurst, the village hall Project Manager
approached fellow Lamphey resident and owner of Gas
Technical Services, Paul Smith, to install a
traditional boiler and radiator heating system.
Understandably, Paul had a keen personal interest in
making sure the hall had the most efficient and
practical heating system on offer, so set about
convincing Ian that he should commission a Unico
heating system instead.
In public meeting places, radiator heating systems
are particularly wasteful as, being slow to reach a
comfortable temperature, they are often left on when
the building is unused. Unico’s high-velocity air
aspiration system means that even large spaces warm
up quickly, achieving even temperatures from floor
to ceiling and wall to wall, so there is no need to
maintain a ‘background’ heat when the building is
unoccupied.
In addition to heating efficiency, one of Paul’s
concerns about a radiator system was the presence of
children of various age groups in the hall. Regular
playgroups meant radiators would have to be run at
low surface temperatures in order to be safe to
touch. This would have further exasperated the
problems of heating time-lag. Unico offered the
perfect solution with their unobtrusive, CD-sized
mini-ducts fitted well out of reach in the ceiling.
In due course an agreement was reached and Gas
Technical Services installed a Unico heating system
powered by a boiler. Sometime in February 2006, the
new Lamphey Village Hall was complete and furniture
was moved in. On this icy morning, Ian was delighted
with the speed of the Unico heating system,
commenting, “I couldn’t believe how quickly the hall
warmed up.”
In contrast, at the grand official opening in June
2006 hot weather greeted village residents as they
packed into the hall, and the Unico system was
operated in ventilation mode. A Unico system can
bring up to 100% of fresh air in from the outside,
providing a cooling effect and a healthier
environment. The benefit of this function in summer
soon became apparent to the Lamphey residents.
Email:
scott@unicosystem.com