Dimplex delivers dining comfort at Oxford University

 Dimplex delivers   dining comfort at   Oxford University  When an Oxford University college  needed to improve comfort levels in a  hard-to-heat dining hall, Dimplex’s  commercial heating experts came up  with an efficient solution to keep     students warm year-round.    By combining a fast warm-up from powerful  fan heaters with an air curtain to minimise  heat loss from the doorways, the Dimplex  solution quickly raises room temperature to comfortable levels and easily retains the  warmth for the duration of the hall’s use.    The dining hall at St Antony’s College was  built in the late Sixties with large single- glazed windows, low levels of insulation and a high ceiling. The hall is used daily for  lunch and dinner and also frequently in the  evening for a variety of other functions. It’s  a large facility in the middle of the site and  an important focus in the students’ daily life,  so it’s vital that it remains in commission.   Oxford Univ ersity  The original heating was a heat recovery  system incorporating vents and low level  radiators, innovative when the hall was built,  but it had been unable to provide adequate  warmth for some time. There was a degree of solar gain through south-facing windows,  but instant, powerful heat was what was  needed. St Antony’s had been using portable  gas turbine heaters to meet the immediate  requirement, but it wasn’t a long-term     solution.    The college consulted Oxford-based        contractor RT Harris and Son with the aim of  finding a more permanent and effective   system. David Sexton explains: “Reliability  was a priority in this installation, due to the frequent usage of this hall and high volumes  of people depending on it. We use Dimplex  products all the time, we know they won’t  give any problems, so the manufacturer was  our first choice.  We use Dimplex   products all the time,   we know they won’t give  any problems, so the  manufacturer was our  first choice. 

      Client         Products         Partners   A division of the GDC Group, Millbrook House, Grange Drive, Hedge End, Southampton, SO30 2DF  Tel: 0844 879 3587      Email: [email protected]      www.dimplex.co.uk/commercial    D1481/0111      Oxford University      College      CFH fan heaters      CAB air curtains      R T Harris & Son  The Dimplex CAB air curtain improves comfort levels within the hall while     minimising energy costs by preventing draughts and escaping heat through the constantly used doorway. They effectively maintain two different temperature zones and keep warm or cooled air in and fumes, chills, heat and dust out.  Peter Robinson, domestic bursar at        St Antony’s, says: “We used to get a lot of complaints about the temperature in the hall in the winter months. With no real heating system in place for the last few years, we’d been using industrial gas  turbine heaters to warm the room up  before an event, but emissions and     ventilation were a worry, as was the fuel storage issue.   “The Dimplex system is very effective at heating this large space. We use the  heaters for about an hour to an hour and a quarter before the room’s used and it stays warm quite easily once the room is occupied - the air curtains to stop cold air coming in is certainly a very good idea. The hall now offers a much more       comfortable environment altogether for the students.”  With powerful heating available at the flick of a switch, and an energy-saving air curtain to keep the heat in, even this  challenging refectory can be warm and comfortable for diners year-round.  “After looking at the size of the space to be heated, we specified a couple of  Dimplex Electricaire. But when we spoke to Dimplex, they took a real interest in the installation rather than just taking my  order. The commercial heating team there suggested a different approach which they felt would be more effective at  heating the space.”  David continues: “Two of the Dimplex team came to site to assess the project, and we ended up specifying a system consisting of six CFH industrial fan heaters linked in two groups of three with  separate controls and a CAB 1.5m air  curtains to create a ‘barrier’ across the doorways to stop warm air escaping. We planned the  solution jointly - I hadn’t expected that level of involvement from Dimplex. It was a real bonus and it really impressed me.”  The electronic CFH fan heaters offer a fast airflow of 900m 3 /h, with a throw of 10m  and air-off temperatures from 30 o  to 60 o C,  plus a cool blow facility for air circulation and comfort year-round. The             multi-directional wall mounting brackets minimise cold spots, while the sturdy  design and powerful centrifugal fans will give years of trouble-free use.