Temporary Boiler Hire Keeps School in Wiltshire Operational

Project Background

Rapid Energy was approached by a mechanical and electrical (M&E) contractor tendering for a boiler replacement project at a secondary school in Wiltshire.

The school’s sports centre was originally built in 2001 and extended in 2018. Its central boiler plant, located across three levels, consisted of gas-fired boilers and storage calorifiers that supplied heating and hot water to part of the building. The swimming pool was the largest source of heating demand, alongside its associated air handling unit.

The refurbishment required the existing boilers and hot water calorifiers to be removed and replaced with a new cascade boiler system, upgraded heating circuits and two new hot water calorifiers.

As the sports centre needed to remain operational during the refurbishment, the contractor required a temporary boiler hire solution to maintain heating for the swimming pool and building, as well as hot water for the shower facilities, while the permanent system was replaced.

Equipment Supplied

1 × 600kW packaged boiler
1 × 250kW plate heat exchanger
1 × Three-phase, 32A, 5-pin red Commando power lead (25m)
1 × 3-inch Camlock hose, 16-bar rated (5m)
1 × 2-inch FDA-approved hot water hose (10m)
1 × 4,500-litre bunded fuel tank

Challenges

The project presented several operational challenges:

Maintaining live operations: The sports centre needed to remain operational, with heating and hot water shutdowns restricted to agreed periods.
Hot water supply: The existing calorifiers needed to be removed and replaced without disrupting hot water availability for the showers.
Integration with existing systems: The temporary heating equipment needed to connect to the building’s existing primary and secondary heating circuits.
System monitoring: Reliable monitoring was required to identify potential issues and minimise disruption during the refurbishment.

temporary boiler flow and return hoses packaged heat exchanger inside 600kW temporary boiler plant

Our Solution

Before the project commenced, a Rapid Energy engineer carried out a comprehensive site survey to assess the existing heating infrastructure and determine the temporary heating and hot water requirements.

Following the assessment, Rapid Energy supplied a 600kW packaged temporary boiler with an integrated plate heat exchanger, providing low-temperature hot water (LTHW) and hot water services (HWS) to the building.

The temporary heating solution our team implemented:

The boiler’s flow and return connections were integrated with the existing swimming pool heat exchangers to provide temporary heating throughout the replacement works.
A 250kW plate heat exchanger was connected directly to the secondary circuit, providing instantaneous hot water for the sports centre’s showers while the existing calorifiers were upgraded.
A two-way remote monitoring system, equipped with sensors and alarms, was installed to track the boiler’s operating conditions and performance.
Following commissioning, Rapid Energy’s engineers verified the system temperatures against readings displayed on the building management system (BMS) to confirm the boiler was operating as required.

Inside 600kW packaged boiler includes plated heat exchanger

Location

Outcome

By connecting the temporary boiler to the existing heating circuits, Rapid Energy enabled the contractor to carry out the planned upgrades while maintaining essential services for the swimming pool and shower facilities.

The remote monitoring system provided an additional level of operational support, allowing Rapid Energy to identify system issues and respond proactively. The customer highlighted this capability as a particular benefit, noting that it provided greater visibility of boiler performance.

Contact our team to discuss your temporary heating requirements via the form below.

Jamie and Rapid Energy have been nothing short of brilliant, and a pleasure to work with. This is our first project together, and we will be definitely using them again, on account of their flexibility.

Andy Wright

The client

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