The pool, at Hendra Holiday Park near Newquay, has two separate water systems, includes three flumes and can see up to 220 users at one time. Maintaining the correct air temperature and humidity of the pool building is in the hands of a Calorex air conditioning system.

With the advent of the Climate Change Levy, energy cost savings were being sought and the Calorex unit came in for scrutiny. The fan on the unit was driven at full speed throughout the year – not just during the holiday season but also in winter to maintain the fabric of the building – but a damper reduced its air flow by nearly half.

To assess possible energy savings, ABB’s Drives Service Partner, APDS (Advanced Power Drive Systems), installed an ABB drive on the unit. From a normal constant energy use of 31kw, the variable speed drive dropped this to 17kw for 9 hours in the day and 7kw for 12 hours at night and 3 hours during the day, an energy saving during the night of 77 per cent.

From annual running costs of nearly £7,000, the ABB drive has cut projected costs to £2,175; a permanent drive is due to be installed this winter.

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