A Gloucestershire village hall has become the first installation to receive 100% grant funding to install a Dimplex ground source heat pump.

Rendcomb Village Hall, near Cirencester, has been supported in the project by Dimplex heat pump installer partner Ecovision Systems which helped with securing grant funding, specifying, and installing and will commission the Dimplex SI 14 ME system.

Half the funding for the heat pump installation has come through the Low Carbon Buildings Programme Phase 2 (LCBP2) with Rendcomb securing 50% match funding through the Community Sustainable Energy Programme (CSEP).

Jenny Cairns, honorary secretary of Rendcomb village hall committee, explains: “We wanted to install central heating and were keen to look at renewable solutions to help us do this in a sustainable way. A number of us saw the same TV programme about renewables and heat pumps, and as the village hall has its own garden we thought it was a wonderful opportunity to install energy efficient heat pumps with horizontal collectors.”

However when Gloucestershire-based Ecovision Systems carried out the initial assessment of the site it was found that there wasn’t enough space in the garden to achieve the correct heat input, so vertical bore holes were drilled in the front car park instead to extract the heat from the ground.

Jenny continues: “Ecovision was absolutely fantastic in helping us secure the 100% grant funding, making suggestions and recommendations, and generally providing support to the project. Now we will bring the building from a mid 20th century conversion into a modern 21st century village hall.”

The ground source heat pump installed at Rendcomb is the Dimplex single phase SI 14 ME, one of five in this popular range which have a flexible system design, making them ideal for domestic or light commercial applications such as village halls.

The SI ME range has nominal heating capacities from 5 to 14kW with a variable heating water flow temperature from 35 degrees to 58 degrees Celsius and can be used with either underfloor heating or radiators and to provide domestic hot water.

The sustainable thinking of Rendcomb committee is reflected in other features of the refurbished village hall from the use of recycled newspaper for loft insulation to low-energy lighting and movement sensors in certain parts of the building to minimise electricity usage.

In addition to village halls, other not for profit organisations such as community groups, registered charities, local authorities and parish councils, schools, colleges and churches could also get grants of 100% for the installation of microgeneration technologies such as solar panels and heat pumps.

The LCBP2 (UK applicants) can provide up to 50% of the capital and installation costs for heat pumps and Dimplex has helped more public sector organisations to access grants for heat pumps than any other supplier. The grant scheme has now been extended until April 2011, with an additional £35 million allocated to the public sector programme.

Grants of up to 50% are also available from the CSEP through the Big Lottery Fund. This is an open grants programme providing £8 million to community based organisations for the installation of microgeneration technologies such as heat pumps or solar panels. Capital grants up to £50,000 are awarded quarterly on a competitive basis with development grants up to £5,000 also available on a ‘first come first served’ basis.

Peter Randall, EcoVision chief executive, says: “To have a 100% grant for a heating system that brings lower running costs and lower carbon emissions is a fantastic opportunity and the more people who know about it, the better.”

Email: marketing@dimplex.co.uk