Client brief
Summit Care Group sought to decarbonise a significant portion of the energy demand at their Ashbourne Care Home. The brief was to implement a dedicated renewable solution for their substantial domestic hot water (DHW) requirements, which would operate alongside the building’s existing space heating system. Key goals were reducing carbon emissions and energy costs while ensuring a resilient and high-capacity hot water supply for residents.
Our solution
Better Planet designed and installed a high-performance, standalone air-source heat pump system focused exclusively on providing domestic hot water for the facility. The system was commissioned on 19th February 2025.
| Element | Specification |
| Heat source | 2 x Vaillant aroTHERM Plus 12kW air-source heat pumps in a cascade arrangement. |
| Thermal storage | 2 x Vaillant uniSTOR 500 L domestic hot-water cylinders, delivering a total of 1000 litres of stored hot water. |
| Controls | Vaillant VRC SensoCOMFORT 720f controller. |
Project succes
The new system successfully targets one of the care home’s largest energy loads, delivering significant benefits.
Reliable, high-capacity hot water – The cascade design offers operational redundancy, while the 1000 litres of storage ensures a plentiful and resilient supply of hot water to meet the high, business-critical demands of a care facility without interruption.
Targeted cost and carbon reduction – By electrifying the hot water production with highly efficient heat pumps (rated A+++/A++), the care home significantly cuts running costs and carbon emissions associated with one of its largest and most consistent energy loads.
A strategic approach to decarbonisation – This project demonstrates a practical, phased approach to sustainability. It allowed the client to make a major environmental and operational upgrade by tackling the DHW load, without the immediate cost and disruption of replacing the entire building’s existing heating distribution network.
