Strand Palace upgrades with Mitsubishi Electric HVRF system
London’s Strand Palace Hotel has upgraded its cooling with an innovative hybrid VRF (HVRF) system from Mitsubishi Electric.
The hotel needed to modernise its heating and cooling systems to ensure a quality experience for guests. High levels of efficiency and minimal levels of disruption were key considerations.
The Mitsubishi Electric HVRF offers simultaneous heating and cooling with full heat recovery. The combination of refrigerant and water used in HVRF delivers a much lower GWP than traditional VRF systems and saves between 30% and 40% in refrigerant use in comparison.
The fit-out was designed by Elementa Consulting and installed by Working Environments. Units were fitted across the hotel’s 790 rooms. It is the biggest project of its kind in Europe and is due for completion in 2020.
Ted Connell, specifier and designer at Elementa says: “Many different systems were assessed, but the expertise of the Working Environment team combined with the modular installation of the Hybrid VRF made it stand out as the right option for The Strand. It was possible to complete the installation floor by floor, even half a floor at a time where necessary, allowing the hotel to remain open during the process.”
The Hybrid VRF system also offers additional cost-saving benefits by removing the need for leak detection equipment. Refrigerant is only used between the outdoor condenser and a special Hybrid Branch Controller box (HBC). From here, water is used to transfer heating or cooling to each room, removing the need for additional equipment or additional annual maintenance regimes.
