HVAC Controls Save Energy Costs for Care Home

Foreword

Signature Care Home in Purley had been experiencing problems with their heating system which wasted energy and created an uncomfortable environment for the residents. Valves associated with the heating system had been forced into a partially open position causing the radiators to always stay at the same temperature, regardless of outside conditions. As a result, inside temperatures were rising too high in the summer and sinking too low in the winter. In addition, the chiller was constantly enabled, at odds with the heating system and wasting energy.

The Project

Atmosclear, a long-term installer of RDM equipment, designed a new control and monitoring solution for the care home. This upgrade created ideal comfort levels for the residents with optimal energy use. It also allowed monitoring devices to enable predictive maintenance and alarm reporting in case of another system failure. Additional benefits, such as noise reduction of the plant, were also integrated into the new solution.

“We have been involved with and installed other manufacturers’ BMS controls, but RDM, in our opinion, outperforms them in many areas. This includes the available back up which we believe far exceeds other systems.” - Tony Peskett, Owner of Atmosclear

The Solution

To achieve the new control of the existing plant, programmable logic controller (PLC) software was created with the care home’s specific requirements in mind. It was designed to incorporate the entire building’s control infrastructure which includes AHUs, boilers, chillers, extract fans, immersion heater, and heaters. The performance of all plant equipment would be monitored by alarm reporting. The control system that Atmosclear designed used RDM’s PLC controllers, Intuitive TDB, as well as RDM’s control and monitoring system front-end DMTouch.

All plant equipment is now controlled using Intuitive TDB controllers and is operating at optimum efficiency. Temperature sensors ensure that the heating doesn’t over or underperform depending on outside conditions. The chillers, previously always switched on, were set to only turn on at temperatures of 20°C and above, saving energy and helping to create a comfortable environment. In addition, time clocks were added to each circuit to switch noisy equipment such as extract fans off at night, improving residents’ sleep quality.

RDM’s control and monitoring system front-end, DMTouch, was also installed onsite. It provides a central control point for all Intuitive devices that are used to manage the control requirements of the care home. The DMTouch also monitors the alarm condition of the plant. If any part of the plant fails, the DMTouch’s alerts will enable a quick resolution of any issues. This will prevent the system from wasting energy in the future. In addition, the DMTouch monitors metered consumables, including electricity and gas, providing consumption statistics and displaying trends.

Care home staff now have easy-to-read statistics at their disposal to set budgets and quickly see if any irregular energy usage has occurred.

Environmental Benefits & Cost Savings

The newly installed control system reduces the operating times of the boilers and chillers, saving gas and electricity, which in turn reduces the care home’s carbon footprint and utility costs.

Atmosclear Building Services Ltd

Atmosclear have been providing their expertise to the building controls industry since 1994. They are proud to provide expert solutions to the care sector, where their 24/7/365 callout availability gives their vulnerable customers peace of mind. As a forward-thinking company, they embrace new technologies and encourage staff training which has benefitted many clients over the years. Over the past six years, Atmosclear has gained in-depth experience installing RDM systems. Impressed with the flexibility of RDM’s system, they continue to promote its use among their clients.