Client: Oreston Primary School

Mechanical Engineer: BFEC Ltd. Plymouth

Main contractor: ROK

Enersys "helps contractor to pick up the pace"

The thing about sports halls is that people run around.

The thing about primary schools is there are lots of small children.

Here are two reasons why radiators are not the best way to heat a sports centre at a primary school:

The injury factor

The scald factor

On top of that you have got the problem of all the convectional heat from the radiators rising to the top of the building which is not where the little people are. This also means that as most of the heat is wasted, it is neither efficient nor economical.

And so, after consulting with the architect and the head teacher, Enersys recommended that the best way to heat the sports centre was to stick with a dedicated, condensing gas boiler but to ensure it was super-efficient and to connect it to underfloor heating.

No scald factor

No injury factor

Furthermore, the radiant heat warms the lower part of the room and tends to stay within the first two metres of the floor which is exactly where you want it if you’re little.

By swapping radiators for underfloor heating, the school will be cutting its energy bill by about 10-20% and it will be providing appropriate heating to the building and not wasting fuel or money heating the top half of the sports hall.

We provided the school with bespoke calculations for the insulation, the underfloor heating and the screed. Once the main contractor had erected the roof we were ready to start. Working to our unique 3-step programme and using our ultra-fast-setting cement we were able to get the underfloor heating, the insulation and the screed in and set within a week. This meant the contractor could lay his floor just five days later which was good news for them as it was running several weeks late.

As soon as the project was finished, Enersys was on site to ensure that the system was running as efficiently as possible, the school was getting all the benefits, and the school caretaker was happy.