Somerset-based Heronhill Air Conditioning is well placed as a source for coolers being long-term suppliers of TEV's Marstair Cellarking range and, more recently, J&E Hall's R410A cellar coolers.
Through a network of specialist contractors, the Marstair Cellarking has been supplied to pubs across the UK, from breweries like Shepherd Neame and St Austell through to assorted free trade outlets. Marstair's cellar coolers have a long held reputation and have cooled the cellars of rock stars and royalty alike with Paul McCartney and the Princess Royal reported to being just two of many discerning clients.
Large stocks of both the Cellarking and the J & E Hall range are stocked at Heronhill's distribution centre in Wellington
Bespoke units
Cellar coolers are an important part of Heronhill's business and the company has built a reputation for producing specials for bespoke projects. Their expertise has been extended to lower temperatures for air conditioning applications. Initially customers were looking for low temperature cassettes to maintain food preparation areas of around 12ºC, where a refrigeration unit cooler was thought to be too noisy and draughty for the workers making the sandwiches. Over the years, however, end users, consultants and contractors have become more demanding, insisting that the units should be unobtrusive or even invisible.
'Not only do they require a unit to be hidden and silent but to also maintain a lower temperature, sometimes down to 5 or 6ºC,' says Heronhill md Nigel Manning.
The range of applications where these mix-matched systems have been used varies from bereavement suites in hospices to up-market wine cellars for the rich and famous. Ducted units to cool chocolate on a conveyer belt have also been used as well as an assortment of different units to help create the right conditions for breeding programmes for endangered reptiles.
With crematoriums, florists and delicatessens also requiring something a bit out of the ordinary, Nigel Manning sees tremendous potential for what he calls 'an air conditioning solution for a refrigeration problem.'
Helping endangered amphibians
Another application has led to helping the breeding programme of endangered species for the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust. Marstair equipment is helping achieve 28ºC daytime temperatures and 6ºC at night in special breeding chambers for endangered frogs and toads.
Modified
Contractors have been crucial in working with Heronhill to further push the boundaries in modifying the units to maintain lower temperatures and to adapting the controls accordingly. 'We have had to fit different controls, lower rated de-ice stats and occasionally fit expansion valves to get the optimum performance from a system, which was originally designed to maintain comfort cooling conditions,' says Nigel Manning.
Durrell's Head of Herpetology, Dr Gerardo Garcia has since recommended the system to Bristol Zoo, which is opening a similar amphibian sanctuary within its grounds to breed two frog species on the verge of extinction. Called the 'AmphiPod', the facility is the subject of a BBC video news story:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bristol/8511225.stm
Heronhill has supplied two specially adapted Marstair cassettes for these AmphiPod's, matched to J & E Hall condensing units, which were installed by Space Engineering.
One client was concerned not to have a whole line of noisy, ill-fitting, glass display units, demanding a bespoke system to maintain his wine at the appropriate temperature in his luxury Mayfair home.
A Marstair DXD ducted air handler was matched with a ducted condensing unit sized to suit such a low temperature application. To maintain humidity, a Nordmann DC3000/222 humidifier, was used in conjunction with the air conditioning to ensure that the wine corks didn't dry out.
The client was so impressed that he has since had a larger version installed at his wine cellar in his Oxfordshire manor house. The equipment was selected by Heronhill on behalf of installer Puma Building Services.