Growing veterinary practice installs ground-source heat pumps
The ground-source heat-pump system installation to provide heating for the new premises of an expanding veterinary practice in Norfolk was specified and installed by Finn Geotherm. Hannah Kelly, owner of Wood Farm Vets, started the practice in 2014 to care for large and small animals. It originally operated from her farmhouse home in south Norfolk, but rapidly outgrew the premises, to the extent of the lounge becoming the waiting room.
The new premises is a renovated Grade 2-listed former corn barn on her land to create a modern mixed practice capable of treating all manner of animals on site, from horses to hamsters.
The heat-pump system serves the renovated building and also the house, which previously relied on an oil-fired boiler.
With a generous amount of land available for a 1700 m collector loop, Finn Geotherm specified and installed two Lampoassa Esi 14 ground-source heat pumps with a 1000 l Superheat thermal store. A former outhouse, complete with built-in bread oven, was transformed into the plant room for the heat pumps and thermal store. Underfloor heating and radiators were installed, with the house using its existing radiators.
The single-phase electricity supply presented a challenge, but the careful specification of a system with two heat pumps working in tandem achieves an output of around 30 kW.
Hannah Kelly said, ‘I am so please with my ground-source heat pump. The entire practice is warm — even dogs in the kennels can enjoy underfloor heating — and we have access to up to half a tonne of hot water in one hit if we need it, which is brilliant when we are dealing with larger animal patients.’
The installation will also benefit from the Renewable Heat Incentive.
