UK firsts for SANYO R22 Renewal system as roll-out begins across country
The first VRF system to be replaced with R22 Renewal is cooling guests in a prestigious hotel and country club in St Albans.
IMA Cooling Systems installed the pioneering SANYO R22 Renewal VRF system at Sopwell House Hotel, once the Georgian country home of Lord Mountbatten.
The previous air conditioning system, from another manufacturer, had suffered a seized compressor and come to the end of its working life. Complete replacement would have been expensive and disruptive, due to pipe runs being buried underground and within the building.
A SANYO R22 Renewal system, supplied by distributor DYSK, was selected because of its flexibility and the reduced disruption to business thanks to its ability to make use of existing pipework.
The system comprises four indoor fan coil units and a 28kW three-pipe VRF system, supplying rooms in the private players’ section of the hotel.
Ian Nash, who headed up the project for IMA Cooling Solutions, said: “We chose the SANYO system because buried pipework would have been expensive to remove, and would have caused major problems for the hotel.
“The Renewal process was straightforward and worked extremely well. We would have no hesitation in using it again for replacing R22 systems.”
Nigel Ames, maintenance manager at Sopwell House, said: “The Sanyo Renewal system is a brilliant solution. It has saved us a lot of time, trouble and expense.
“The original air conditioning system was installed when the Mews accommodation was built. A conventional full replacement would have meant lifting paving stones and wooden floors and chasing out existing pipe work and replacing with all new.
“The SANYO solution means existing pipe work can be re-used, saving significantly on time and cost. The time issue is critical in a hotel environment, as complete replacement would have taken over two weeks, and put the rooms out of commission. The Renewal System was completed in just two-and-a-half days.”
Following the success, another existing VRF air conditioning system coming to the end of its life at Sopwell House will be replaced with a SANYO Renewal System, he says.
It’s not just VRF that SANYO can replace. Renewal of split systems is also easy and straightforward. A recent example has been installed in a commercial office development near Heathrow in west London.
Harrow-based Taprex installed the inverter-driven SANYO 10kW split system, supplied by Oceanair Distribution, as part of refurbishment of a ducted air conditioning system serving offices in the commercial storage sector.
It replaced an R22-based Trane heat pump and made use of existing pipework and power supply cabling.
Malcolm Smith of Taprex said: “It‘s a very effective system and easy to install. Existing pipework was concealed in trunking, and it would have been difficult and time-consuming to remove and replace.
“We carried out an acidity check and a high pressure test to ensure pipework was satisfactory before going ahead. Oceanair supplied an inline filter drier which we simply brazed in place. That was it. The new units started first time and worked perfectly from the off.”
The installation is expected to produce significant savings in running costs for the end user, due to the replacement of the aging R22 non-inverter system with a modern inverter-controlled heat pump running on R410A.
An additional benefit is that the new SANYO equipment comes with a 7-day controller, enabling the system to be properly set up to work efficiently over the working week.
The previous system had only a one day control, of limited value given the changes in building usage across the week. Malcolm Smith added: “We would be happy to use R22 Renewal again. We have already been asked to quote for a number of projects. There are a great many R22 systems out there, and we now have a ready-made solution that makes sense for everyone.”