News: Manvers boat club install innovative heat pump

Manvers Waterfront Boat Club in Rotherham is one of the first buildings in the UK to heat its clubhouse through a ground source heat pump system laid in a lake, in a system supplied by Sheffield-based Danfoss Heat Pumps.

The new boat club, which offers Canoeing, Angling and Triathlon, draws energy from loops placed in the lake in an innovative method that makes the best use of natural resources, with a very high recovery of energy. The heat pump is providing space and water heating for the café facilities, changing rooms and showers, meeting rooms and offices for use by members and visitors to the boat club.

Canoe England, which runs the club, was looking for an affordable and sustainable method of heating the property that could then be used as a blueprint for other boat clubs around the country. The organisation reviewed the various energy sources available to them and heat pumps proved to be much more affordable to run and, when heat was to be derived from the lake, they found they could be expected to deliver a very high efficiency – many times higher than a high efficiency gas boiler.

Chris Hawkesworth, Chairman of Manvers Waterfront Boat Club, said: "We are really excited about being the first club in the country that has the capability to use energy from a natural water resource to heat our building.

"After many reviews of the alternatives, we chose Danfoss' heat pumps because they are a major manufacturer with a strong reputation and it also helped that I have their heat pumps fitted at home so knew they would provide a high quality, reliable, efficient form of heating.

"I don't think any of us expected them to be able to deliver such efficient performance as they have done – achieving a very high performance, which will save us significantly on our running costs, whilst delivering a consistent level of heating and hot water."

The pipes were laid in 12 metre depth of water, with divers placing the 4 x 200m ground loops deep on the bed of the lake, which were then secured at regular intervals. They then dug a 130m trench which led from the lake to the building entrance to accommodate the loops from the lake.

Chris Dale, Director of Danfoss Heat Pumps, said: "Water source heat pumps are a tried and tested method in Scandinavia and other Northern European countries, but it is great that this exciting method installation of heat pumps is being used here in Rotherham.

"There are many properties located close to water that could take advantage of closed loop water source heat pumps and this is the perfect example of how effective they are in providing space heating and hot water, even for larger buildings."

The Manvers Waterfront Boat Club, which officially opens in May 2011, offers members and visitors a wide range of activities including canoeing and kayaking, angling, sailing, model power boating, triathlon and supervised open water swimming. They currently have 500 members and expect to attract 6,000 visitors at major events in 2011.

Manvers Waterfront Boat Club website
Danfoss website

Images: Danfoss