Alpha Heating Innovation’s high efficiency InTec 30GS boilers have recently been utilised on a Southern Households Ltd development of three to four bed houses on the Isle of Wight, providing a cost effective means of reaching the Domestic Emissions Rate (DER).
Southern Households Ltd standard practice is to meet the DER for its homes by exceeding the minimum insulation requirement, using mineral wool full fill products. However, with the Isle of Wight exposed to strong winds and driving rain, mineral wool wasn’t suitable – and achieving the same U Values with a PIR solution was set to add cost to the build. Watertight Plumbing Solutions therefore recommended that the TER was met by installing higher efficiency boilers from Alpha.
The Alpha InTec 30GS is a wall mounted high efficiency condensing combination boiler with an in-built passive flue gas heat recovery device – Alpha’s GasSaver technology.
A GasSaver increases the overall efficiency of a heating or hot water system. The compact unit extracts heat from waste gases that are normally expelled into the atmosphere through the boiler flue. This is then used to preheat cold mains water before entering the boiler. As the boiler is heating warmed water rather than cold, 35% less gas on average is used to produce hot water, reducing energy bills and saving up to half a ton of carbon per year. Alpha’s GS1 GasSaver is a recognised additional feature in SAP, which improves the DER rating on the overall building efficiency by approximately 6%. As such, it was an ideal solution for Southern Households Ltd.
Simon Long of Watertight Plumbing Solutions commented, saying, “One of the biggest challenges we faced, aside from efficiency, was physical space for the boiler. I chose Alpha for the project, because the Intec 30GS suited the needs of the job perfectly with an all-in-one package providing high efficiency and maximising room capacity. It was also really simple to fit, which helped to cut down on installation time.”
Harry Sculthorp, Architectural Designer at Southern Households Ltd added, “We had used an older version of Alpha’s GS boilers previously, so were familiar with the high quality products. Knowing the climate on the Isle of Wight, we were keen to achieve the best possible solution for minimising CO2 and saving homeowners money on their energy bills going forward.
“When considering the capability of the Intec 30GS, even within a smaller space, I really think Alpha is leading the UK market with this technology.”