In Lamphey, near Pembroke in south west Wales, it wasn’t a viable option to renovate the village hall so funds to build a replacement were secured. As work commenced, Ian Parkhurst, the village hall Project Manager approached fellow Lamphey resident and owner of Gas Technical Services, Paul Smith, to install a traditional boiler and radiator heating system. Understandably, Paul had a keen personal interest in making sure the hall had the most efficient and practical heating system on offer, so set about convincing Ian that he should commission a Unico heating system instead.

In public meeting places, radiator heating systems are particularly wasteful as, being slow to reach a comfortable temperature, they are often left on when the building is unused. Unico’s high-velocity air aspiration system means that even large spaces warm up quickly, achieving even temperatures from floor to ceiling and wall to wall, so there is no need to maintain a ‘background’ heat when the building is unoccupied.

In addition to heating efficiency, one of Paul’s concerns about a radiator system was the presence of children of various age groups in the hall. Regular playgroups meant radiators would have to be run at low surface temperatures in order to be safe to touch. This would have further exasperated the problems of heating time-lag. Unico offered the perfect solution with their unobtrusive, CD-sized mini-ducts fitted well out of reach in the ceiling.

In due course an agreement was reached and Gas Technical Services installed a Unico heating system powered by a boiler. Sometime in February 2006, the new Lamphey Village Hall was complete and furniture was moved in. On this icy morning, Ian was delighted with the speed of the Unico heating system, commenting, “I couldn’t believe how quickly the hall warmed up.”

In contrast, at the grand official opening in June 2006 hot weather greeted village residents as they packed into the hall, and the Unico system was operated in ventilation mode. A Unico system can bring up to 100% of fresh air in from the outside, providing a cooling effect and a healthier environment. The benefit of this function in summer soon became apparent to the Lamphey residents.

Email: scott@unicosystem.com