Royal Air Force Museum Cosford in Shropshire has dramatically cut the cost of heating its hangers, thanks to work carried out by energy efficiency business Vickers Energy.
The museum houses over 70 aircraft in three large hangars – all built in the 1930s. Each hangar is heated by gas-fired radiant tube heating with the largest hangar costing around £50,000 a year to heat.
Escalating energy bills had led the museum to explore ways in which it could lower its energy consumption. In 2013 the museum commissioned Vickers Energy to install a system that regulated heating in the Museum’s largest hanger.
.
In its first year of operation the smart system reduced the museum’s gas consumption by almost 30%, saving the museum £14,000 and negating the emission of 96 tonnes of CO2.
As a result of the system’s performance the museum has taken the decision to install the energy management system in its remaining two hangars. The new systems are predicted provide RAF Museum Cosford further energy bill savings of £9,500 a year and CO2 savings of 103 tonnes per year.
Alex Medhurst, the museum’s general manager commented: “We’ve already reaped the financial benefits of having Vickers’ energy system in one hangar and it made sense to install them in the other two. It’s saved us thousands of pounds a year on our energy bill and we don’t need to do anything to manage the system ourselves or change how we work as an organisation. The team at Vickers worked alongside us to understand the nature of our work here and our requirements. It’s also reassuring to know that our reduced energy consumption is going towards a cut in our carbon footprint.”
David Hilton, managing director at Vickers Energy, explained how the energy management system works. He said: “Our system uses high accuracy temperature sensing, moderating the temperature to 0.1oC giving the museum peace of mind that heating systems are optimised, delivering significant savings on its energy bill whilst ensuring the precious exhibits are protected.”
.
