When a large-scale boiler refurbishment was needed at Finborough School in Stowmarket, Suffolk, Alpha Heating Innovation provided the ideal solution. Working closely with the installer RW & JF Mallett Ltd., Alpha supplied a number of its boiler units to the school’s extensive facilities to improve the supply of hot water.
Established in 1978, Finborough School was built on 40 acres of private ground surrounding Finborough Main Hall, a Grade II listed Tuscan style country home. With 500 children in attendance the school has a high hot water demand, particularly during the early hours when the 80 boarding students are preparing for the school day.
As the original boiler systems throughout the school buildings were operating at full capacity and struggling to meet demand, a decision was made to carry out a refurbishment of all the school’s heating units. As such, over the course of five years, work has been in progress to strip out the existing systems and replace them with a selection of Alpha boilers.
So far 13 Alpha boiler units have been specified at Finborough School. Among those already installed are two cascaded 50kW ProTec Plus boilers in the £2million new-build arts and science block. There is also a further two cascaded 50kW ProTec Plus boilers in an area housing classrooms, the school reception and a number of offices.
The Alpha ProTec Plus system boiler comes with built-in commissioning and is available in a range of models depending on the application’s required output. For Finborough School, the ProTec Plus’ ability to be cascaded enabled the significant hot water demand across several of its facilities to be met at the same time. Designed with easy access for servicing, the ProTec Plus benefits from a five-year guarantee as standard.
During the specification process, Ian Mallett of RW & JF Mallett Ltd., the project’s lead installer, was also looking for a reliable high-performance heating system for the boarding students’ dormitories. After being introduced to Alpha’s Blade Units, Ian cascaded two 70kW Blade Units in the boys’ dormitories with a further two in the girls’ dormitories to meet the facility’s increased hot water demand in the morning. Ian commented: “Once I had been introduced to the Alpha Blade Units, they were the obvious choice for these areas.”
“The assistance I received from Steve Farrow, Alpha’s Area Sales Manager for East Anglia, was excellent,” said Ian. “Steve readily offered his knowledge and expertise throughout the process to help ensure that the correct Alpha boilers were specified for the school’s facilities.”
Daniel Sturch, Alpha’s Commercial Product Engineer, commissioned the Blade Units to ensure they worked as intended, as Ian explained: “With Daniel’s help, we were able to ensure a reliable system of boilers that now provide hotel-standard hot water delivery at peak times to meet the boarding students’ hot water needs.”
Chris Wilson, Facilities Manager at Finborough School added: “We selected the Alpha Blade Units due to their flow rate, warranty length and ease of installation, plus the guarantee of a back-up unit, thanks to the cascade setup, if ever one was to fail. It helps to provide peace of mind that the right solution was chosen.”
An additional five Alpha E-Tec S system boilers have also been specified and installed in the pre-prep and prep school areas, a standalone classroom block and a building housing teachers’ accommodation. The project at Finborough School is still ongoing, with a further unit set to replace the existing combi boiler in a teachers’ residency in Spring 2021.
If you would like to find out more about cascade heating systems for the school environment, download our FREE guide >> Cascade boiler systems in schools