Ground Source Heat pump form hot water needs at campsite

Joined
15 Sep 2011
Messages
33
Reaction score
0
Location
Cornwall
Country
United Kingdom
About to build a toilet/shower on a campsite. 2200 litres needed for morning showers, was considering an Andrew Gas water heater which was sized and the cost £4000 + Bulk gas tank at £500 per fill. Would easily cover hot water needed.

But keen to safe money in the long run, and is considering a 6kw Ground source heat pump, and 3 x 750L GROUND SOURCE HEAT PUMP BUFFER TANKS. Loads on land, so no probs there. That system comes £6500, but it the long run i suppose it's worth the extra invsetment now?

Any advice? Thanks
 
Sponsored Links
6kw would take about 19 hours to heat 2250 litres of water, so it's feasible but pushing the limits a bit, consider a more powerful heat pump
 
About to build a toilet/shower on a campsite. 2200 litres needed for morning showers, was considering an Andrew Gas water heater which was sized and the cost £4000 + Bulk gas tank at £500 per fill. Would easily cover hot water needed.

But keen to safe money in the long run, and is considering a 6kw Ground source heat pump, and 3 x 750L GROUND SOURCE HEAT PUMP BUFFER TANKS. Loads on land, so no probs there. That system comes £6500, but it the long run i suppose it's worth the extra invsetment now?

Any advice? Thanks

2200Ltr??!! Are you sure you need that amount of stored water?? How many showers are you fitting? Go for Propane gas fired boiler, tanks & thermal solar panels on the roof. Much, much cheaper install price & works a treat.
 
Only 2.5k cheaper to install according to the OP Dick, well worth the extra over the 4k for gas when you factor in the running costs
 
Sponsored Links
Only 2.5k cheaper to install according to the OP Dick, well worth the extra over the 4k for gas when you factor in the running costs

Aye a Andrews, but I'm talking about a couple of 24KW Heatline combis & large indirect calorifiers for example. Any type of heatpumps AS or GT would be farting at thunder for that sort of capacity!! You need LPG for a quick recovery for a Shower Block down at Dale Farm!! Oh & plenty soap!!
 
rinnai water heaters with a buffer will be cheaper than an andrews,or if you want heating as well ACV do a range.solar input could added,AS/GS will struggle to meet peak demand
 
rinnai water heaters with a buffer will be cheaper than an andrews,or if you want heating as well ACV do a range.solar input could added,AS/GS will struggle to meet peak demand

Good call mate, but there's nothing cheaper than a couple of combis.
 
Maybe not, but what do you do when one breaks down and you suddenly haven't got enough power to supply the demand? At least with stored water you can turn on the immersion as a backup until the main system is fixed. Cheap isn't what's required here, reliable is what's needed and a system with no backup in the event of breakdown is not sufficiently reliable.
 
Thanks for the advice guys.

These rinnai water heaters seem to be loads cheaper than Andrew Gas heaters. One model produces 979 litre/hr raised 50oC and its about £1500. That's loads cheaper than Andrews, over half the price?
 
Maybe not, but what do you do when one breaks down and you suddenly haven't got enough power to supply the demand? At least with stored water you can turn on the immersion as a backup until the main system is fixed. Cheap isn't what's required here, reliable is what's needed and a system with no backup in the event of breakdown is not sufficiently reliable.

Hello!! Read my post, I said with calorifiers, you could add a couple of 6KW immersion heaters, still on single phase leccy.
 
Maybe not, but what do you do when one breaks down and you suddenly haven't got enough power to supply the demand? At least with stored water you can turn on the immersion as a backup until the main system is fixed. Cheap isn't what's required here, reliable is what's needed and a system with no backup in the event of breakdown is not sufficiently reliable.

Taking 19 hours to heat the water seems a very long time to have to wait. With a good engineer he could probably have fixed the boiler by then.

Taking that amount of heat from the ground would need a very large collection area.

I think an air source would be far cheaper and easier and as the camp site is presumably only used during the summer probably quite efficient. The air does not run out like warm ground does.
 
Maybe not, but what do you do when one breaks down and you suddenly haven't got enough power to supply the demand? At least with stored water you can turn on the immersion as a backup until the main system is fixed. Cheap isn't what's required here, reliable is what's needed and a system with no backup in the event of breakdown is not sufficiently reliable.

Taking 19 hours to heat the water seems a very long time to have to wait. With a good engineer he could probably have fixed the boiler by then.

Taking that amount of heat from the ground would need a very large collection area.

I think an air source would be far cheaper and easier and as the camp site is presumably only used during the summer probably quite efficient. The air does not run out like warm ground does.

A lot of these places are open all year round now Tony, but the OP didn't say.
 
Thanks for the advice guys. The campsite will have 5 showers, 7 basins and have 80-100 people staying at absolute peak. (July & Aug). Other periods of the year the demand will be nowhere near this.

The showers will be low flow, timed control button, so probably 5 litres per minute x 5 mins (average shower time when you have to push a button) = 25 litres per shower.

The total max amount of showers that can be taken in an hour, with a 2 minute break between each shower for drying, changing etc is 42.

42 X 25 litres = 1050 litres per hour for showers add basins =
1150 litres needed at absolute peak.

Andrews gas water heater sized and priced comes in at £4000
Rinnai looks to be around £1500 (need to speak to these guys in the morning to confirm spec and price)
GSHP comany coming this week for spec meeting.

At the moment the Rinnai looks the best bet for the money?
 

DIYnot Local

Staff member

If you need to find a tradesperson to get your job done, please try our local search below, or if you are doing it yourself you can find suppliers local to you.

Select the supplier or trade you require, enter your location to begin your search.


Are you a trade or supplier? You can create your listing free at DIYnot Local

 
Sponsored Links
Back
Top