Unite, Student Accommodation

Background

Unite, one of the UK’s largest managers and developer of student accommodation, were looking for electric heating for student accommodation as an alternative to electric convection heaters in their student properties. A site in Huddersfield was chosen to use Herschel.

A key attraction was to find heaters that were more efficient, a slimmer profile and could be wall or ceiling mounted offering options to save space in the rooms and reduced fire risk from students drying clothes on the heaters.

Solution

• Herschel Select white 540W white panels and Select XL 600W white panels were installed replacing 1.2kW convector heaters. A combination of wall and ceiling mounted positions were chosen.
• Unite used their own monitoring equipment to compare consumption
• Existing Prefect programmable air-thermostat controls were used to control both heater types

Results

• Herschel panel consumption was recorded lower overall than the convector heaters, up to 40% across the sample.
• Feedback from occupiers has been very positive. “After 5-10 minutes, you can feel the heat and it takes around 15 minutes to heat the whole room”. “It’s a nice temperature and the room stays warm overnight.” “Last year I’d have to turn it (convector heater) on in the morning, I can’t say I’ve had to do that this year.”
• Unite staff and students were impressed with the lower consumption and feeling of heat. They are now considering extending trials and using Herschel on a number of other sites.

Additional benefits identified by Unite:

• Herschel panels have no openings or vents, reducing the risk of items / dust etc building up and coming into contact with the heating elements.
• Less movement of air means that dust and allergies aren’t circulated around the room.
• Increase in blood circulation from infrared being absorbed by the body with associated health benefits such as reducing joint stiffness, boosting immune functionality and detoxing.