Panasonic’s Sustainable Heat Pumps Power the National Wool Museum

Panasonic recently provided a large air to water heat pump system to the National Wool Museum, located in a large remote site based in South-West Wales. Looking to achieve net zero, the National Wool Museum reached out to M&E contracting and installation company FP Hurley, who specified four Panasonic Aquarea 30 kW TCAP M Series units, a first-of-its-kind installation in the UK.

Replacing the old gas-fired boilers, to make the old museum building more energy efficient, the National Wool Museum sourced funding from the Welsh government via a grant that supports a more sustainable heating system. The initial site visit revealed the system must fit within a limited outdoor space and additionally, the building was found to be surrounded by residential neighbouring properties, meaning the new system needed to be quiet to prevent disturbance. FP Hurley specified four Panasonic Aquarea 30 kW M Series units that could meet the capacity required to easily connect to existing internal infrastructure as well as deliver space-saving and efficient heating to all the internal areas of the museum.

Ronan Templeton, Project Manager at FP Hurley, commented, “Panasonic is currently the only manufacturer with an air source heat pump that could meet all the requirements for this project. As the Panasonic Aquarea 30kW unit is fairly new to the market, the team attended the Panasonic accredited Air-to-Water training at Panasonic’s Cardiff facility. The trainers were very helpful, provided all necessary information and were on hand throughout the installation, so we are therefore now looking to get our electrical team to also attend the training course. As a result, we are now Panasonic Pro Partners, so we can offer our customers a seven-year warranty on the units.” Discussing the units themselves, Ronan continued, “The units are compact, quieter than anything else we have recently installed, and they provide the high temperature required to meet the needs of the museum’s existing radiators.”

Selecting the high-temperature T-CAP technology with simple plug-and-play connection capabilities helped to streamline the project. The Panasonic M series units were easily able to integrate with the museum’s existing radiators, to deliver a high-water outlet temperature of up to 75°C and work in outdoor temperatures as low as -25°C. The units use R290, a natural refrigerant with a Global Warming Potential (GWP) of 0.02, ensuring the system is more sustainable. These units are becoming known in the wider market for their high energy efficiency, seamless integration, and more environmentally friendly operation.

With the four 30kW Panasonic units working in cascade, the system is much more energy efficient. The Panasonic Cascade Controller can support up to 10 Aquarea air-to-water heat pumps, allowing run hours across multiple units to be shared by each unit, helping to meet the heating or cooling demand of commercial buildings more efficiently.

Paul Taylor, Head of Renewable Heating at Panasonic Heating & Cooling Solutions further added, “For large commercial projects, efficiency is key to creating a more sustainable building and reducing heating costs. Utilising multiple cascade control connected heat pumps increases the flexibility of the system to support the fluctuating demand and maximises efficiency. In addition, the controller includes an intuitive touch screen display with information about each of the connected heat pumps - ideal for quick commissioning and maintenance tasks.”

The Panasonic Cascade Controller helps to maximise the lifespan of Panasonic Aquarea heat pump systems for large systems, as intelligent management balances the load and minimises downtime by offering a contingency solution if maintenance is required.

For more information on the wide range of Panasonic heating and cooling solutions visit the website, or visit https://www.fphurley.co.uk/, https://museum.wales/wool/.