An efficient, reliable and effective heating in a care home setting is critical. And not simply for the ongoing health, wellbeing and general comfort of residents, but also to ensure optimal hygiene and infection control standards.
Here, we’re taking an expert look at the key considerations and challenges that care home administrators must address to ensure optimal temperature control within their premises. We’ll also cover recommended solutions that deliver efficient performance without compromising cost and efficacy.
Key considerations for boilers in care homes
Efficient care home heating begins with a top-spec commercial boiler that is well maintained and capable of delivering a continuous flow of hot water through the entire premises. Let’s take a closer look at some of the essential things to consider when selecting a replacement boiler for a care home environment.
Cleanliness, hygiene and infection control for residents
Maintaining peak levels of infection control and cleanliness is a prerequisite of care home management. And since hygiene so often hinges on the provision of hot water, it’s critical that your commercial boiler delivers this on-demand around the clock.
Without a regular supply of hot water flowing around your premises, your staff will find it much more difficult to maintain optimal hygiene standards. This is particularly true in instances where care personnel are dealing with residents with incontinence problems and other medical conditions.
Hot water for utilities
Most utilities within a care home setting rely on a steady flow of hot water – be it taps for washing hands, commercial washing machines for handling soiled linens, or appliances specifically designed for disinfecting bedpans. As such, it’s vital that your boiler has the capacity to supply these utilities without compromising the flow rate of water to taps, showers and baths within a resident’s accommodation.
Comfort and safety for vulnerable residents
Few commercial premises – save for perhaps hospitals and other healthcare facilities – have the same heating requirements as care homes. Elderly and vulnerable residents are particularly sensitive to temperature changes and must be kept at a consistent, comfortable temperature – regardless of the weather or season.
It’s worth noting, that the comfort of staff, contractors and visitors must also be taken into account, with the appropriate heating provisions provided in staff quarters and communal areas.
Energy efficiency
Managing operational overheads is a key priority for care home administrators, with a fine balance to strike to ensure efficient commercial heating performance in a budget-friendly way. But as energy prices continue to prove tricky to predict, retaining peak energy efficiency is becoming more challenging than ever before.
Of course, there are ways to improve efficiency, with the deployment of a newer generation gas boiler significantly reducing day-to-day running costs for care homes.
Sustainability targets
Many care homes, particularly large chains and groups, are keen to demonstrate their ESG credentials by working towards more sustainable energy practices. While there are several ways to achieve this, installing a new, eco-friendly boiler is one of the most effective.
Even replacing your current gas boiler with a newer model can prove worthwhile, with advances in technology meaning that commercial gas boilers are much more efficient than their outdated counterparts. Of course, there are other options too, including hydrogen-ready boilers, hybrid heating systems, and heat pumps.
Minimal hassle or disruption
Installing a new boiler must not lead to prolonged disruption, otherwise, this could have a significant impact on resident comfort and overall hygiene and cleanliness standards.
Extended installation times on retrofit projects may require residents to be relocated, which is incredibly disruptive, expensive and time consuming. Therefore, working with a partner capable of installing a new boiler in a short time frame is essential.
Post-installation support
Ongoing support is critical when a new boiler has been installed, as is the long-term maintenance and servicing of the new appliance. Leaning on a trusted partner like JLA guarantees total peace of mind both pre and post-installation, with a nationwide network of engineers on hand to rectify faults and provide rapid breakdown response should the worst happen.
Costs of purchasing and installation
Deploying a new boiler along with any necessary HVAC infrastructure changes this entails can be an expensive undertaking, with a significant cost outlay to consider. That’s why leasing packages like JLA Total Care are proving so popular, offering the equipment upgrades you need on a monthly subscription basis with no upfront costs to consider.
Types of boilers and heating systems in social care settings
There are lots of points to consider when choosing the type of boiler that is suitable for a care home environment. Space, requirements, and efficiency should all feed into your decision, along with reliability, availability, and cost.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the commercial boiler options available for social care organisations.
Wall-mounted commercial boilers
Commercial wall-mounted boiler solutions are ideal for smaller care homes where floor space is limited.
In the UK, the majority of boiler replacements utilise wall-hung models due to their compact size and the fact they are easy to access and simple to use. Wall-hung boilers can also be ‘cascaded’ – whereby multiple boilers work together to ensure the load is balanced, meaning that you’ll never be without heating or hot water should a fault occur.
Floor-standing commercial boilers
Due to their compact size, floor-standing commercial boilers are the perfect choice for new boilers or plant rooms where floor space needs to be maximised – or where additional heating output may be required to enhance an existing system.
As some of the smallest floor-standing boilers on the market, JLA units can fit through standard doors, while their fitted wheels make it easy to move each appliance to the optimal position in the room.
Hydrogen-ready boilers
A hydrogen-ready boiler is capable of burning up to 80% natural gas and up to 20% hydrogen. The boiler can be quickly and easily converted to burn hydrogen at the time when the local network switches over.
Hybrid heating systems
Hybrid heating systems provide a balance between the effectiveness of gas boilers with the eco-friendly credentials of air sourced heat pumps to help reduce energy costs and your overall carbon footprint.
We hope this resource has proven useful in helping you identify the appropriate HVAC solutions for your care home or social care business. To talk to our experts about your individual requirements, call us today on 0808 258 5120.
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