The Fulbridge Academy save on heating with HeatingSave

The Fulbridge Academy is a large primary school in New England, Peterborough. It hosts just over 100 members of staff and approximately 640 pupils. It is in the largest 20% of Primary School’s nationally and is the largest in the Local Authority.

The school originally opened in 1935 and serves one of the oldest parts of the city. It was centrally heated right from the start, and, at the time, the hot water pipes were in the cloakrooms so that the children’s coats would dry out during the day if it had been raining.

Extra corridors and classrooms were constructed in 1949 and again in 1960. The school’s premises have continued expand slowly over the years.

In 2011, the school’s board and the Local Council were reviewing the ever increasing cost of running the school including the heating costs. Six gas fired Hamworthy boilers heat the school via radiators and also provide the hot water.

“Peterborough Council presented the HeatingSave system as a very good way of saving energy and cutting our energy bills” said Graham Barnes, Site Manager for the Fulbridge Academy.

After a demonstration of the HeatingSave a system comprising a main controller and two sub-units was installed at Fulbridge Academy in late 2011.

No problems were encountered with the installation of HeatingSave. “Everything worked fine” explained Graham Barnes, who received on-site training in the use of the new system. Graham also believes that a the “hands-on” involved approach was very important for speeding up the learning process.

“I’ve learned how to control HeatingSave mostly on my own, by using it on a daily basis” he explained, “That’s why I’m sure that the system is now being used to its full potential”.

He also acknowledged that the energy management system has helped Fulbridge Academy slash their energy bills. In Graham’s own words “running the heating system is much cheaper now. We’re certainly saving money, compared to the previous years”.

HeatingSave’s proprietary algorithm constantly calculates and improves the efficiency and savings of a central heating system by learning the heat-loss profile of the school buildings. Given like-for-like conditions, it can save 30% or more off fuel bills (although 50% lower bills have been reported by our customers!).

The HeatingSave reporter asked Graham what he liked most about the HeatingSave system. “The fact that, once it’s set, it will work exactly as required, without me having to worry about it” was his first reply.

He then added, “The previous boiler control system was a bit iffy. I mean, you wouldn’t know for sure whether it would get things right first thing in the morning. HeatingSave is guaranteed to start the boilers at the optimum time, every time. It’s solid and reliable.”

Graham also believes that the system is “very easy to use”.

Traditional time clocks set the heating to come on at a particular time, but they cannot cater for bank holidays, holidays, shut downs or periods when the school buildings are empty. With HeatingSave you could change a room temperature requirement over 1,000 times a day, which means that you’ have 100% control over the heating/cooling, regardless of the time of the year.

The HeatingSave diary enables a school to plan the heating round the school timetable, 365 days a year, with each heating zone properly managed. HeatingSave’s equipment monitoring features also help the school avoid expensive repair and maintenance costs by exercising the pumps and valves in summer to avoid equipment seizing up when not used.

Fulbridge Academy have used the HeatingSave HelpDesk a couple of times. A faulty boiler sensor prompted a visit from the HeatingSave Operations department engineers to the school’s site and Graham described the quality of the service as “very good”.

The Fulbridge Academy is expanding, “Construction work for a new hall with 8 classrooms, staff room and office facilities is under way. I would certainly like to have HeatingSave installed there as well, because I would then have complete control over every building on the school’s site from a single location.”

When we asked Graham if he would recommend HeatingSave to other schools? His answer was “Yes, I would, definitely.!” and in conclusion he said “a lot of schools in the area are struggle with old heating systems and higher bills. HeatingSave could certainly help them save money!”

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Customer Information

The Fulbridge Academy

Keeton Road

Peterborough

PE13JQ

Phone: 01733 566990

Fax: 01733 319403

E-Mail: office@fulbridgeacademy.co.uk

Web: http://www.fulbridgeacademy.co.uk/