Geothermal heat pumps installed to help school’s energy

A North Lincolnshire school has installed renewable technology, including geothermal heat pumps, to help provide enough energy to power the school. The energy efficient products were unveiled with the new school on March 30, ready for the children to move in.

To help with heat and electricity, the school have installed two forms of renewables – solar panels and geothermal heat pumps. With these, the school will generate 50% of its energy. And this is all 100% free as they utilise natural energy sources.

Solar panels take heat from the sun’s rays and turn it into electricity, whist geothermal heat pumps collect heat from the ground.

The £5.5 million project will use 317 solar panels to generate enough electricity to power the ground source heat pump (GSHP), which extracts heat from the earth.

The geothermal heat pumps will provide heat for radiators, underfloor heating systems and hot water. The solar panels will also contribute to the school’s energy use with electricity, or it can be sold to the National Grid. Together, these will provide the school with an annual energy saving of £3,000.

The geothermal heat pumps and solar panels system will also cut carbon emissions by some 30,000kg of carbon dioxide.

The geothermal heat pump system will:

  • Provide free energy throughout the year
  • Cut energy bills by £3,000 annually
  • Reduce carbon emissions to help the environment

Kate Buckley, head teacher at the Lincolnshire school, said: “Cost saving is an aspect of the new school build, but being environmentally friendly has been the biggest motivator.

“We are anticipating considerably lower running costs due to the energy efficiency of the new build.The extra £3,000 we will have each year will go towards raising attainment in reading and maths.

“We have invested a lot of money in improving the reading ability of our pupils, including a Government- approved reading scheme. The extra money will go towards purchasing reading books and training staff, and the investment has so far had a really positive impact on our young children. We hope to continue this in the future, and also broaden the spending to include maths.”

With the renewable technology in place, it’ll make the primary school the most energy efficient in the county.
And Rob Waltham from the North Lincolnshire Council, said: “The new Westcliffe Primary School building looks fantastic. I’m sure all the staff and pupils will enjoy working in this modern and green environment when they move in around Easter.

“We want to provide the very best for our primary schools and this school is a great example of the high standards we aim to provide for them.”

And it’s not just these large-scale commercial installations that can benefit those who have them installed. Geothermal heat pumps are a proven technology that’ll help homeowners too. With a ground source heat pump you’ll reduce your bills by using natural energy found in the ground.