A nursing home in Polmont, Falkirk, has received a major efficiency boost from two new boilers from Alpha Heating Innovation that combine domestic and commercial technology.
Ivybank House is a residential nursing home providing personalised care for people over the age of 60, including those living with Dementia. The home has 42 fully-furnished, en-suite bedrooms, to enable residents to remain as independent as possible, along with five spacious lounge/dining areas and attractive landscaped gardens. A separate bungalow alongside the nursing home houses the laundry room.
The existing heating system was extremely inefficient, comprising a 30-year-old floorstanding boiler sited in the main building. Installer Raymond Beveridge of Raymond Beveridge Services, based in Fife, was contracted to rip out and replace the old system. Raymond has installed boilers from Alpha Heating Innovation on a number of previous occasions, and so trusted the brand and knew it could provide the right products for the job.
He said: “I like installing Alpha boilers, especially on the commercial side. I’ve fitted them in a number of care homes and I’ve had no trouble with any of them. Plus, you’re getting the three-year warranty that comes from the manufacturer, so it’s good for the client to know they’ve got that backup for the first three years.”
The new boiler fitted in the main nursing home had to be wall hung rather than floorstanding, to make more space to move around the small plant room, so a ProTec Plus 115kw system boiler was chosen. Alpha’s ProTec Plus 115 offers a condensing central heating output of 121.7kW, and has a seasonal efficiency of 96.4%.
A stainless steel heat exchanger and fully modulating built-in circulator pump offers long-term reliability, while features include frost protection, weather compensation compatibility and a back-lit LCD interface. The ProTec Plus has a wide 1:10 modulation range to boost efficiencies further and is compatible with Alpha’s open and concentric push-fit flue systems.
The separate laundry room had been using a gas-fired water heater to supply hot water to the sink, with electric heaters keeping the space warm in the winter. Originally installed incorrectly, acidic corrosion had damaged the old heater, ultimately causing it to burst and leak water. Raymond knew it would be much more economical to replace the old system with a combi boiler to run both the heating and the hot water, and so a 33kW E-Tec boiler from Alpha was chosen.
The E-Tec 33 comes with a stainless steel heat exchanger, as well as a high-efficiency Grundfos pump with hydroblock assembly. A zinc-plated expansion vessel prevents corrosion, which was particularly appealing to the owners of the nursing home, following their experience with the previous system.
For peace of mind, the E-Tec comes with a five-year warranty, with three years for the ProTec Plus.