A Communal Heat Network is a system where heating and hot water is produced in a central plant room and then sent to all the flats in a building. It requires many elements including gas-powered boilers, heat exchangers, tanks, pumps and pipes as well as a computer controlled unit to ensure everything works in the most efficient and economic way.
At North End House works to replace the heating and water systems have been ongoing for over 10 years. Star Blocks A and B and North Block had new systems installed many years ago but South and Centre Blocks continued to operate on the old system which has become less efficient and ultimately ceased to work, so a temporary system was hired for around 6 months.
In 2024 the basement plant room and all the old equipment was stripped out and completely refurbished with a modern Communal Heat Network serving all 60 flats in the two blocks. This included removing asbestos from the plant room which was done by a registered asbestos removal company. You can view the clean air certificate following this work here.
The plant room work was completed in October 2024 in time for the heating to be switched back on. In March 2025 work started on replacing miles of pipework running to the 60 flats and included refurbishing the tanks and pumps on the roof of the building as well as insulating the loft spaces carrying the pipework.
Below are a series of blogs and updates on the progress of the project which is scheduled to complete in August 2025:
