When Blair Castle welcomed its first royal visitor Edward III in1336, hot water was not so frequently used and was less conveniently available than it is today. The castle saw many changes over the centuries and in the 1870's the 7th Duke introduced many modern conveniences for the daay such as gas and bathrooms. Quoting the Trustees of The Blair Charitable Trust, "... the 10th Duke of Atholl placed the castle and estate in trust in 1995, so that the building and its contents would be preserved ..."
Blair Castle now provides unique venue for prestigious events as well as welcoming many visiting members of the public during the season. The facilities have once more been greatly improved to cater for the increased demands placed upon them by a recently enlarged shop, a more spacious restaurant , outside terrace and new exhibition hall. The plumbing serving these areas is now also of the 21st Century, hot water being provided by an Andrews Oil-fired storage water heater.
"This is an energy efficient replacement for the various cylinders and electric immersion heaters which existed before" says installer Bob Rattray of RL Rattray Ltd. He explains, "With two bolers and an oil tank, ther would have been insufficient room for califoriers in the boiler house and the Andrews water heater overcame this problem. Being independent firing, it could be more conveniently located in a dedicated plant room closer to the point of use.
In summer during the visitor season, it is not necesary to fire the main boiler plant to obtain hot water and because of the high recovery rate achieved by the Andrews unit, little storage is required. This not only saves space but will help reduce the fuel bills for the Trust."
Selected by Environmental Services Design of Denny, the model installed is an OF 40/100 U/V providing 182 litres of storage with a recovery capability of 455 ltrs/h (at 44ºC rise). This is more than sufficient to fulfill the hot water demands of the restaurant, kitchen and toilets on the busiest visitor days. Andrews was able to supply a unit for use with an unvented water system which ha been specified to improve the cleanliness and flow of cold water. It also means no cold feed header tank is required or associated pipework which is a bonus once again where space is limited.
Preventative measures against the presence of Legionellae is another important health and safety consideration where members of the public are concerned. The design of these units is such that any Legionellae that may be present in the water is eliminated when operating at 60ºC or above, and the low positioning of the burner provides a furtherdisincentive to Legionellae colonisation, providing added peace of mind for Blair Castle Trust management.
