A new village hall in Trimingham, North Norfolk, has created a warm and welcoming hub for the community, thanks to a ground source heat pump installed by renewable heating expert Finn Geotherm.
The new purpose-built Trimingham Village Hall opened in 2018. The previous facilities were a 1930s pilgrim shelter, which is located close to the cliff edge in Trimingham and due to coastal erosion would only have 20 – 30 years more use. The old hall had electric heating which was ineffective and expensive to run.
Terry Brown, chairman of the Trimingham Village Hall Trust, said: “When we set out to build the new village hall, we wanted to create a space that everyone could enjoy. We also wanted it to be green and follow as many passive house standards as possible. We’d always planned to heat the hall using a ground source heat pump and were delighted when our building contractor appointed Finn Geotherm to undertake the project.”
Finn Geotherm specified and installed a Lämpöässä Vmi 17 three-phase ground source heat pump with integral 480 litre thermal store in a purpose-built plant room. The system heats the entire building, comprising main hall, meeting room, kitchen and toilets, via underfloor heating. Built on a paddock, the 1200m ground loop array was laid in the area surrounding the village hall. Although there were some obstacles to overcome, including a protected area for the wildflower Purple Broomrape, Finn Geotherm rose to the challenge to complete all the necessary groundworks.
While the heat pump does not need adjustment and is left to run effectively on its own, Finn Geotherm is able to monitor the heat pump performance remotely using an Assa control unit.
Trimingham Village Hall’s £38,000 heat pump project qualifies for the Non-domestic Renewable Heat Incentive, meaning the hall will receive quarterly payments for the heat they use for the next 20 years. As part of the project, Finn Geotherm dealt with the application to register this installation and ensure Trimingham Village Hall receives all the financial incentive available.
Fundraising for the new village hall took five and a half years. The facilities are now in constant use with all manner of community groups and events taking place there each week, from lunch clubs and yoga to table tennis and even weddings.
Terry sums up: “We are delighted with how well the heat pump works in our new hall. It has created a warm, welcoming environment and the running costs are excellent. In the previous village hall, we had problems with people not wanting to take their coats off – now we don’t know where to put them all! We have had huge support from Finn Geotherm throughout the installation and afterwards too, which has been brilliant.”
For more information on renewable heating, contact Finn Geotherm by visiting www.finn-geotherm.co.uk.