The UK’s care sector faces a dual challenge – providing outstanding 24/7 care while managing rising operational costs and the increasing need for environmental sustainability. For businesses like Summit Care Group, energy consumption, particularly for heating and hot water, represents a significant financial and ecological overhead.
Recognising this, Summit Care Group embarked on a strategic decarbonisation programme across its portfolio. Better Planet was proud to partner with them on the first phase of this initiative, delivering high-performance, renewable hot water systems for three of their facilities: Ashbourne Care Home in Dudley, The Lodge Care Home in Sheffield, and Whittington Care Home in Chesterfield.
The challenge: targeting a key energy load
In any care home, the demand for domestic hot water (DHW) is immense and relentless – for bathing, laundry, kitchens, and cleaning. This makes the DHW system one of the largest and most consistent energy consumers. We made the strategic decision to target this specific load, implementing a dedicated renewable solution that could operate alongside the buildings’ existing space heating systems. This approach aimed to deliver the biggest possible impact on carbon emissions and running costs with minimal disruption to daily operations.
The solution: A resilient, high-capacity system
For all three homes, Better Planet designed and installed a powerful, standalone DHW system tailored for the commercial care environment.
- Heat source: A 24 kW cascade system of two Vaillant aroTHERM Plus 12kW air-source heat pumps. The cascade design ensures operational redundancy, meaning that even if one unit is down for maintenance, the other can continue to provide hot water.
- Storage: 1000 litres of dedicated hot water storage, provided by two 500-litre Vaillant uniSTOR cylinders. This large capacity guarantees a plentiful supply to meet the high peak demands of each facility.
- Controls: The system is managed by a Vaillant VRC SensoCOMFORT 720f controller, ensuring optimal performance and efficiency.
Ollie Larsson outlines our approach
I worked closely with the design partners at Summit Care Group to determine the best solution. There were two key factors we focused on.
First – Contingency.
We didn’t want to risk a situation where residents could be left without hot water. Reliability was essential.Second – Practicality.
We needed a realistic design. Technically, we could have built a system assuming every resident would be showering at the same time – but that simply wasn’t practical due to real-world constraints like staffing.With these considerations in mind, we chose to use two 12kW units, which are typically used in residential settings. This approach had several advantages:
- If one unit failed, the other could still provide up to 60% of the system’s capacity, ensuring continued operation.
- It also allowed for easy future retrofitting if additional capacity was ever needed.
The systems are all performing well – so I’d say we must’ve done something right!
A partnership approach
Installing a major new system in a facility that operates “24/7 365 days a year” requires meticulous planning and communication. The primary concern for Kajen Suresparen, Operations Manager at Summit Care Group, was the potential for “disruption to the service”.
Our team worked closely with the management at each home to mitigate this. The client noted how this collaborative approach was key to success:
Your team worked with the home to communicate when the water supply would be shut off and for how long. This allowed the home to communicate this to the residents and relatives so that no major distress was caused… As the ASHP installation involved a large part of work outside, the home was able to keep residents out of the working area for the period of the installation. Noise levels were highest during the daytime so that sleep was not disrupted.
The professionalism of our on-site team was also highlighted. Kajen commented that the team was “professional, polite and always kept the home updated with the stage of the install,” adding that “no significant mess was left and no complaints were raised”.
Communication and aftercare
Beyond the physical installation, clear and consistent communication is paramount. We were delighted to receive feedback that this is a key differentiator for our service.
Communication was excellent. Stephanie was always professional and prompt in her responses… I can confidently say that professional and prompt communication is one of the biggest selling points of BetterPlanet as a supplier in our opinion as this is not consistent with other suppliers.
This commitment extends beyond project completion. As the client noted, “Where they really shine is in their communication and aftercare. It would not be an installation and then no support. When we have needed support, BetterPlanet have provided it”.
A model for the future
The success of these initial installations has provided Summit Care Group with a proven model for decarbonisation. When asked what advice they would give to other care operators, their recommendation was to “Consider scaling things from a smaller patch first. Perhaps 1-2 homes to get the installation and you can learn from those installations and the energy usage data to decide which of your remaining homes would have the greatest opportunity cost”.
By targeting the domestic hot water load, Summit Care Group has successfully reduced costs, cut carbon emissions, and future-proofed their facilities in a strategic, non-disruptive, and scalable way.
The final word from Kajen speaks volumes:
As a result, we would work with them again in the future and would recommend them to others.
