Build It 2020 Award Winners!

Orangehouse Renewables are delighted to be named as winners of the 2020 Build It Awards for the category of Best Heating System or Product. The award was presented on 27th November at a virtual awards ceremony hosted live by Richard Bacon MP.

Our winning entry was for the design and installation of an innovative water source heat pump system for a domestic renovation. The aim was to provide our client with the most efficient and long-lasting system possible whilst ensuring a smaller carbon footprint and using the infinite renewable energy available in the river. Replacing the existing oil system with a water source heat pump not only resulted in approximately 58% fuel cost saving for the client but it also recovered the cost of the system through the government’s Renewable Heat Incentive grant scheme.

The heat pump of choice for this project was a Nibe F1155 – the Swedish company Nibe’s first inverter-controlled ground source heat pump which provides market leading performance and savings since the heat pump automatically adapts to the home’s heating demand. With Environment Agency approval a stainless steel Energy Blade water heat collector (to extract heat from water) was installed in the River Welland at the bottom of the garden.

It was important to have a design that would have no impact on water flow, river use or a detrimental impact on the riverbank for all users of the public footpath. The system was carefully designed to have no impact on flood defences, as well as being charged with environmentally friendly glycol to minimise any environmental risk and all joints were electrofusion welded to reduce the risk of leaks. Our Chief Engineer designed a bespoke pontoon above the Energy Blade as a multi-purpose platform for leisure activities such as fishing or mooring a boat.