In January this year, BBC News reported that nearly 5,000 schools had been closed as the UK faced its coldest winter for 100 years.
There are, of course, many reasons why a school might be shut in freezing weather. They include concerns over safety, travel restrictions, a lack of access to school premises, and insufficient staff making it in to work, all of which are beyond the control of school authorities.
However, another major reason for school closures in the cold – insufficient or inadequate heating – is both foreseeable and preventable.
There is no prescribed minimum temperature for schools in health and safety legislation, but the temperature in classrooms should normally be at least 18°C. Quite apart from the obvious need for comfort, a classroom or assembly hall that is too cold can have a serious negative impact on students’ ability to concentrate and learn.
That’s why, when it comes to heating school buildings, it’s important to consult a school heating specialist.
Each school environment presents its own challenges in terms of heating. Whether you are looking for school assembly heating, sports hall heating or mobile school heating for a temporary classroom, an enlightened manufacturer will be able to recommend the best solution to meet your requirements.
Companies such as Vulcana are able to conduct a full heater survey to assess and recommend the best heating system to suit your school’s heating requirements. We also provide after care, which includes a programme of heating servicing and maintenance.
Our onsite school heater surveys are free of charge for enquiries from schools for powered flue fan-assisted heaters, balanced flue convector heaters and overhead heaters, whether they are fuelled by natural gas or LPG.
We will carry out a full building assessment, including a heat loss calculation to measure how much heat is needed to effectively and efficiently heat your school building. We will then provide a no-obligation quote, recommending the best heater or combination of heaters to install.
As well as providing a comfortable environment, specifying the right type and size of heaters for schools can significantly reduce your energy bills – a heater that’s too large will increase energy costs unnecessarily, but a heater that’s too small will not heat your building efficiently and will constantly be running at maximum output.
Our gas heaters also offer significant environmental benefits, helping to lower a school’s carbon footprint, as they offer up to 93.9% heating efficiency and comply with current environmental directives and building regulations.
However, selecting the right heaters for a particular school application is not enough on its own. It is also essential that a properly qualified, Gas Safe registered fitter installs the heaters.
Gas Safe Register is the official list of gas engineers who are registered to work safely and legally on boilers, cookers, fires and other gas appliances. It checks engineers to ensure they are competent and qualified to work safely and legally with gas.
In the last year, Gas Safe Register has investigated more than 700 cases of illegal gas fitters in the UK. Using someone who is not on the register to install and maintain your school’s heaters could cost you thousands of pounds in remedial work, impact negatively on your school’s reputation and, most importantly, endanger the lives of everybody in the school.
Once appropriate heaters have been installed, they must be properly maintained. Progressive manufacturers can help here too. For example, we provide fixed price heater service agreements, which are renewable every two years, across our entire product range, to help building owners budget with confidence. We can also provide heater servicing contracts for other manufacturer’s products.
To book a free heater survey for your school call us on 01444 415871 or complete our enquiry form.