How did you hear about Control HQ?
Control HQ presented their zoned heating system at the Business Energy Efficiency Programme Conference in March this year.
Why smart heating controls?
The harsh winter that just passed has cost considerably more than could have been expected for the golf club. A quarter of the usual annual spend was spent in one month. This cost left the company vulnerable. It led to them having the tank and boiler pressure tested as concerns arose that there may actually be a gas leak, which was not the case.
One of the owners, Graham, told us: “We thought that we’d get the rest of the year from the last fill of LPG and then it ended up only lasting a month!” They needed to keep guests happy but had no control in doing this.
Cleobury Mortimer Golf Club already had Biomass and other energy efficiency measures like solar thermal for the showers and increased insulation. They wanted to further improve their Green Credentials and decided that tackling the increased cost of the LPG was an opportunity to combine both.
Furthermore, the lodges are situated away from the main building and were either too hot or too cold. Staff would walk to the lodges to adjust the heating manually which itself is not efficient, so adding state-of-the-art zoned heating control ticked all of the boxes.
Was there anything to be concerned about?
Genius Hub offered the flexible control that Cleobury Mortimer Golf Club wanted and it was simple to use. Each of the 4 lodges is identical but they needed to control them individually and collectively. They thought that getting one system to cover all would be impossible.
“Businesses need to have control over their overheads,” we were told by Graham. “This was difficult and the company feels that it is defenceless against the rising price of LPG.”
Being in a rural area they were limited to certain suppliers and were particularly vulnerable to getting deliveries of LPG in adverse weather conditions.
Graham explains, “Freezing temperatures meant the delivery may not even arrive when we need it.” They needed to reduce the number of deliveries required to reduce this issue and become less susceptible to price hikes.
Why Control HQ?
Graham told us he felt that Control HQ was a technological system that offered all the flexibility they needed. Control HQ offered a room-by-room heating control with fixed wireless repeaters to ensure the connection is rock-solid and it is controlled by a simple app.
Graham adds, “Control HQ were a local company with local installers and salesmen, which was important to us.”
What were your first impressions of the Control HQ?
Installation of the Control HQ system was completed within one or two days. It can be done as part of a normal room turnaround causing no disruption to guests. Time and care is taken to carry out a free survey and to understand the needs and requirements of the business. The system is designed to provide a specifically tailored solution.
Graham tells us, “Installation was very smooth and well explained by the salesman.”
He continues, “We were only interested in someone who was willing to come by and see the buildings and survey them. Some other companies tried to quote over the phone and that simply wouldn’t work for our individual requirements.”
Can Control HQ cut their bills?
Control HQ can offer at least 30% energy savings, but it all depends on how it’s used. Control HQ can provide independent verification of these savings if required.
Have the lodges benefited in any other way?
The lodges have underfloor heating. As a result of guests not understanding it, they would increase the temperature to the maximum, resulting in the lodge becoming overheated after a few hours, creating spikes in the temperature.
Windows would then be opened to cool the lodge back down.
Graham said, “Now they can boost the system from the Control HQ thermostat in the lodge and after 3 hours it will automatically go back to the settings that we set at reception.”
Graham concludes, “This is so much better than what we had before, where all of that money that we’d spent on heating was far too often going straight out of the window!”
