Eton Manor Rugby Club is an English rugby union club based in the London Borough of Redbridge. In Spring 2017, the Rugby Football Union (RFU) funded a refurbishment project for Eton Manor with an upgrade of their heating system. Three Solo Air Curtains were chosen as a more efficient replacement for the club’s existing radiators.  Two of the Solo Air Curtains units are installed in the clubs changing rooms which can accommodate 70 plus players at once.  Heating such a large space consistently and as needed would have been costly with the club’s old radiators. However, as Solo units contain around 0.2litres of water (20 times less water volume than conventional radiators), they can generate a much more rapid rate of convection. This means instant heat for the players as needed.  The backward curved impeller fans generate pressure equally in all directions, thus ensuring even distribution of warm air throughout the large open changing room space.  The heating upgrade was overseen by Ground Sun, a UK based renewable energy company that specialise in designing and installing heat pump systems. To supply heat and hot water, two 50kW water source heat pumps were specified by Ground Sun. RFU and its consulting engineers were impressed by Solo Radiator’s ability to manage heat distribution so efficiently and effectively in conjunction with the heat pumps.  That is because Solo Radiator is designed specifically to operate at water temperatures as low as 26°C allowing the water source heat pump to perform to its maximum efficiency. As a result, the system achieves an efficiency of 410%, therefore bringing major energy savings for the club.

The Eton Manor Rugby Club project undertaken by Solo Radiator UK partner Ground Sun was awarded ‘Small Scale Project of the Year’ at the National Energy Efficiency & Healthy Homes Awards 2017. The 2017 Small Scale Project of the Year Award is given in recognition of  a successful small-scale energy saving project, where energy efficiency measures of less than £250,000 have been installed.