Heat Networks are a cost-effective, environmentally friendly way to provide heating and hot water to residents. WilSon Energy can advise you on design, implementation and management of Heat Networks for new and existing developments

What is a Heat Network?

Heat networks (also known as district heating) supply heat from a central source to consumers, via a network of  insulated pipes carrying hot water. Heat networks can cover a large area or even an entire city, or be fairly local supplying a small cluster of buildings or a single apartment block.

Typically a heat network comprises a central primary hot water closed ring, which takes heat in from a central boiler or other heat source, and distributes it to properties via Heat Interface Units (HIUs) in each individual property.

Advantages of Heat Networks

They avoid the need for individual boilers or electric heaters in every building, which delivers cost and fire safety benefits.

By sharing heating among multiple homes they can  benefit from economies of scale, as the generation of heat in one large plant can often be more efficient than production in multiple smaller ones.

They enable the use of alternative technologies such as large ground source heat pumps, or geothermal energy.

Retrofit

Increasingly, heat networks are being retrofitted to redeveloped buildings in urban areas. WilSon Energy can advise on the design and implementation of retrofit projects.

Management, Maintenance and Billing

WilSon Energy provides a complete Heat Network Management service, maintaining central plant and in-home devices, billing and managing tenant connections.