Coral first past the post with Daikin’s ‘invisible’ air - DEU-1811

A Hertfordshire betting shop has become the first UK site of its kind to boast ‘invisible’ air conditioning.

Daikin’s VRV i-series was the perfect heating and cooling solution for Coral’s new premises in in the pedestrianised town centre of Hatfield, to the North of London. 

The 78m2 shop had no suitable outdoor location for a conventional condensing unit.  Coral’s Managers who attended a Daikin launch presentation, quickly expressed an interest in the ‘invisible’ i-series solution for their planned premises in Hatfield. The Daikin VRV i-series offers efficient temperature control where standard outdoor units are not possible due to space limitations, architectural considerations or planning constraints. The system overcomes these problems by mounting all components indoors with only a grille visible outside – and even that can be hidden from public view.

The VRV i-series splits the ‘outdoor’ unit in two: a small-footprint compressor unit that is 701mm high and needs just 600x554mm of floor space, so it can easily be located in a store room or back office. A separate heat exchanger unit, is compact enough to be mounted in a ceiling void and venting to the exterior through a grille.

The Coral system was installed by its nominated contractor, IAC Service Group Limited, a Billericay-based Daikin D1+ Installer who had been looking after the betting group’s air conditioning systems in London and the South East for the past 15 years.

IAC Contracts Director, Vince Mann said: “The heat exchanger unit can be installed virtually anywhere as its maximum static pressure of 150Pa allows fairly lengthy suction and discharge ducts, but in this case we installed it against a grille to the rear of the premises.”

As it was the first UK installation, Daikin UK and manufacturing plant, Daikin Europe, oversaw the system’s commissioning shortly before the new betting shop opening at the beginning of 2016.  

Coral’s 5hp VRV i-series achieves a nominal capacity of 14kW in heating and cooling, with a COP of 3.8 and EER of 3.20.  The system can be connected to a maximum of ten indoor units from the full VRV IV range, as well as air handling units and bindle air curtains. The maximum pipe length between heat exchanger unit and compressor unit is 30 meters, with a maximum height difference between the two is ten meters. The height difference between compressor and indoor units can be up to 30 meters, but the difference between highest and lowest indoor units is limited to 15 meters. These dimensions give significant flexibility with the installation. Both the heat exchanger unit and the compressor unit operate at just 47dBa, so they cause minimal disturbance indoors.

The VRV IV i-series also facilitates faster and more cost-effective installation as the components are easy to transport and handle. Systems are similarly easy to service, as all components can be easily reached.

Connected to the outdoor is a Roundflow Cassette which has an automatic cleaning cycle to prevent dust accumulations on its décor panel. This cassette became Coral’s first choice for new installations and shop refurbishments after a year-long trial at a Wolverhampton branch showed it to be 49% cheaper to run compared to a standard cassette.

The combination of a VRV i-series, Roundflow Cassette and wall mounted indoor unit has provided staff and customers of Coral with an efficient and reliable HVAC solution. An ideal invisible solution where locating the outdoor unit was an issue – with no unit outside, planning approval times were also reduced so the premises could open for business sooner.

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