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Chester & District Housing Trust (CDHT), is trialling the Baxi Bermuda BBU HE as part of a programme to update its housing stock to meet Decent Homes standards and to help combat fuel poverty for the occupants.
With approximately 1,000 properties of CDHT's housing stock fitted with standard efficiency back boiler units (BBUs) the Trust was faced with the challenge of selecting a high efficiency, easy to install, affordable alternative.
"Back boiler units cleverly fit into a property's existing fireplace. However, when it comes to replacing a standard efficiency BBU siting a boiler alternative elsewhere can prove difficult, especially in small homes," explains Hamish Laird, M&E Surveyor, Chester & District Housing Trust
CDHT therefore selected Baxi Group's Baxi Bermuda BBU HE to be trialled in a 1950s bungalow in Melrose Avenue, Chester. As a one bedroom bungalow the property had very limited wall space, so it was challenging to site a traditional condensing boiler. National property maintenance contractor PH Jones were contracted to install the new high efficiency boiler into the property.
"The installation of the Baxi Bermuda BBU HE went very smoothly. We connected the unit to the existing pipework, renewed all radiators and incorporated an expansion vessel to upgrade to a pressurised system with Y plan control and a new hot water cylinder, working closely with the XDHT to minimise disruption to the tenant" explains Chris Jones, Social Housing Refurbishment Director at PH Jones.
"The Baxi Bermuda BBU HE offered Melrose Avenue a high efficiency solution as a direct replacement to its existing BBU, without needing to re-site the boiler. The tenant living in the property has found the BBU unit easy to use and should now benefit from significant fuel savings," adds Mr Laird.
Gas prices have risen by over 114 per cent since 2003 according to regulators, leading to calls for old, inefficient boilers to be replaced wherever possible with new, high efficiency models. According to the Energy Saving Trust, a modern Band A boiler will use up to a third less fuel than an old Band G boiler to provide the same amount of heat.
Baxi has developed the new A rated Baxi Bermuda BBU HE as a direct replacement for the estimated 2 million old back boilers still in use. It has an output of 15kW and will modulate down to the required heating demand to ensure optimum performance at all times.
Replacing an old BBU with a Baxi Bermuda BBU HE is a straightforward process. One of the main advantages of the new BBU is that existing pipe work can be used. This means the entire system can usually be replaced in a single day. For the householder, there is minimal disruption, the need for costly redecoration is eliminated and space is not lost elsewhere in the home. For more information visit www.baxibermuda.com
