Heating

HEATING LEGIONELLA CHECK ON CONTINUOUS FLOW HOT WATER HEATING UNITS AND DELIVERY SYSTEMS

Rinnai Continuous Flow Hot Water Heating Systems & Units - Legionella check before Restart – or the ideal time to switch to continuous flow how water delivery A ll hot water delivery systems in any commercial or institutional site need to be given detailed consideration to the potential of Legionella proliferation during the shutdown. This will necessitate that certain procedures and measures are carried out before the system can be made ‘live’ and function efficiently.

ACOP L8 guidelines, produced and published by the Health & Safety executive, lists the details and necessary procedures to ensure system cleanliness. According to ACOP L8, continuous flow direct to outlet systems are seen as low risk for Legionella, due to it allowing for a full turn-over of water volume, no stored water and accurate temperature control.

Start with an inspection: The first and most important point of a comprehensive and detailed inspection of the appliances is to ensure they can operate to maximum efficiency, especially if there is no record of what procedures were taken when the system was shut down.

So, to bring a continuous flow hot water heating system back to into active service please note the following procedures and consideration: • With the water heaters still shut down allow fresh cold water into the system and flush all outlets for a minimum of 5 minutes. This will allow all stagnant water to be removed which should take any bacteria with it. Another method

can be to flush the system with a suitable biocide chemical. • Once the above has occurred and, if the appliance has followed a regular and appropriate service regime, the water heater can be brought into service and the below steps carried out 1. Set appliance to 65°C (if it is not already). 2. Open gas supply. 3. Turn on secondary pump, check water heater is operating correctly by checking gas pressures and allow to recirculate for no less than 1 hour. 4. After one hour if possible, adjust TMS’v to 55° and flush all outlets for a minimum of 5 minutes. 5. Carry out sample tests for all water outlets for any

Legionella presence. 6. If the appliance has not had a service within the last 4/5 months, then a full service should be carried out before above steps 1 – 5 are carried out.

Other modes of hot water delivery systems will have their own sets of procedures. Best advice to site managers and maintenance personnel is to ensure they should obtain specific sets of information and procedures for their particular system. This may be time consuming, but it is important to check for possible Legionella given

that the lockdown has been here for several weeks – and it has been an ideal time for bacteria proliferation.

Or sites may want to consider that it is the perfect opportunity to switch to a continuous flow system of hot water delivery. This will ensure a limitless supply of hot water is available, provided there is no interruption to gas and water supplies. Continuous flow is acknowledged as more technologically advanced, more efficient, more cost effective with less front-end costs and better Whole of Life economics. • Comprehensive Restart Kits are readily available direct from Rinnai. If there are any questions or queries regarding continuous flow hot water heating systems please contact Rinnai direct by telephone or email. • FM, Installers, site managers, contractors and all end-users simply call 01928 531870, select technical and if the call is not answered immediately leave a voicemail. Response will be within one hour between 0800 – 22:30 / 7 days a week. This means that there be a technical response every day of the week. • Email engineer@rinnauk.com or sales@rinnuk.com • Visit www.rinnaiuk.com and see the website homepage “Help Me

Choose” or “Ask Us a Question”.

For more information on the RINNAI product range visit www.rinnaiuk.com

HEATING LOCHINVAR AND HCP EXCEL FOR ROTHERHAM SCHOOLS

Boiler, water heater and heat pump company Lochinvar has provided 20 condensing gasfired water heaters as part of a major upgrade of plant rooms at eight schools in Rotherham, South Yorkshire. T he manufacturer, which has expect to achieve been providing hot water savings in energy solutions for educational consumption and buildings for more than carbon emissions 40 years, formed a strategic of around 15%. partnership with HCP. The brief As circulatingwas to upgrade services to improve type water heaters, performance, cut running costs and EcoKnight products reduce the environmental impact are designed for of the vital heating and hot water installation with systems in a total of 10 plant rooms. separate storage

One option was simply to replace vessels and most existing atmospheric water heaters of the plant rooms with like-for-like models. However, HCP now feature two opted for Lochinvar’s high efficiency, water heaters condensing technology because it alongside two SST reduces energy consumption and stainless steel carbon emissions while also providing storage vessels. improved reliability and longevity. High-quality stainless steel is

HCP’s strategic asset management prominent in the construction of the (SAM) team used lifecycle asset data and EcoKnight range. All models feature technical knowledge to create a best a grade 316l stainless steel heat value model and decided a strategic exchanger and the SST storage vessels partnership with Lochinvar, FM provider are also constructed from this reliable Engie and the installation company material. Standard warranty periods Staffordshire Plumbing and Heating are five years on the EcoKnight heat (SPH) would deliver the best outcome. exchanger and 10 years on the SST

“The water heaters on the storage vessel, reflecting the quality Rotherham Schools PFI project were at of the material and products. the end of their serviceable life,” said EcoKnight water heaters can HCP’s Dan Earnshaw. “At the heart provide hot water outputs ranging of the replacement strategy was the from 709 to 3,819 litres per hour, need to install equipment that would based on a temperature rise of 50ºC. provide longevity and reliability. They are compact and designed for

“For these reasons we collaborated ease of handling and positioning. with Lochinvar, Engie and SPH to SST storage vessels are specifically prepare and deliver the strategy on designed for use with circulating behalf of our investor client, while water heaters and are available in also providing considerable energy four models with storage capacities cost savings for the end user.” ranging from 300 to 1,000 litres.

The models chosen from Lochinvar service technicians Lochinvar’s EcoKnight range have commissioned the water heaters efficiencies ranging from 93 to and related components after they 95%, which also comfortably meets had been installed by family run SPH, current regulations. The schools now based in Stoke-on-Trent, which has

20 years’ experience in providing a range of domestic and commercial heating and plumbing installations.

Engie, which manages the sites on behalf of HCP and the schools, will provide ongoing maintenance. www.lochinvar.ltd.uk