The replacement of an old heating system in Ovideo, Asturias, by an innovative heating system has led to significant economical and emissions savings, in the framework of the REPLACE project.
Illustration : michal-matlon
An old coal heating system in Oviedo, Asturias, has been replaced with an innovative heating system that also includes DHW, an aerothermal system and photovoltaic panels. The building is made of 72 households, it was built on 1963 and has 7.440 m2 with no surrounding buildings, so the thermal losses on the façade are important. Around 288 people live there, and it has been equipped with an individualized monitoring system that measures consumption with remote viewing and thermostatic valves in each household. Due to the complex access to the boiler room and the desire of achieving maximum efficiency, it was installed as a cascade boiler system of the Okofen brand.
The reasons that lead to installing a new heating system were the old system was outdated and very polluting because of the coal. Also, the building was looking to obtain the highest energy qualification possible. Anyhow, there were a few problems during the installation, like the need of dismantling all boilers to fit them into the boiler room. For now, the building enjoys the guarantee of an optimal operation by the energy service company and significant economical and emissions savings. The replacement of the system benefitted from renewable energies subsidies from the “Consejería de Empleo, Industria y Turismo” of Asturias (2011-2020).
New heating system in use | Biomass pellet Aerothermal Photovoltaic |
Previous replaced heating system | Coal |
Building type | Residential |
Useful energy demand (kWh/m2a) – Before and after building shell renovation | Before: 108.48 kWh/m2a After: 87.23 kWh/m2a |
Installed capacity (kWth) – Before and after | Before: 950 kW After: (624+16+5.4) kW |
Input energy – Before and after | Before: 1,008,828 kWh After: 763,611 kWh |
Initial investment (purchase and installation) | 311,780 + IVA € |
Yearly savings on the energy bill (compared to previous system) | 36,714.53 € |
Yearly energy savings (compared to previous system) | 254,217 kWh |
Yearly CO2 emission reductions (only heating system replacement) | 453.6 t CO2 |
This best practice is issued from the activities of Work Package 4 “Preparation of instruments for replacement campaigns” of the REPLACE project. Read it now to discover many more best practices illustrating the benefits of innovative low-carbon and renewable heating and cooling systems.