A village hall in Denbighshire is the most eco-friendly in Wales as it leads the way in the new green revolution – and makes sure it beats rising energy prices to stay open.
The weather outside might be frightful but inside Llanbedr DC village hall, near Ruthin, there will always be a warm glow.
That’s thanks to a major £45,000 programme instigated by the local community council and led by renewables experts Carbon Zero UK, of St Asaph.
The hall now boasts air source heating which will be part-powered by solar panels and a harvesting system that has been retro fitted to the property, supplying free water for toilet flushing all year round.
Community Councillor Jennifer Rowlands, chair of the Village Hall Committee, said: “We were losing money because our electricity and gas bills were so high and it wasn’t sustainable to keep the hall open.
“We were looking at ways of making it more viable and making it more environmentally friendly as well.”
Carbon Zero UK came up with the scheme and Managing Director Gareth Jones said: “Renewable energy is definitely the way to go because there are so many incentives and that applies for public buildings like village halls as well as to homes and commercial properties.
“We’ve all been to meetings in village halls where the place is freezing cold because they are so expensive to heat conventionally but here we have an integrated system that takes advantage of natural resources.
“Air source heating takes air from the outside and uses a heat exchanger to extract the heat contained in the air naturally and then a compressor which acts like a refrigerator but in reverse and raises the temperature from the outside air.
“It can actually operate when the temperature outside is -20C and it’s so simple that it’s a fit and forget system because it needs to little maintenance.”
The air source heating is part-powered by solar panels on the roof. The roof is also used to collect rainwater into a large tank which then supplies water for the hall’s toilets to the tune of 50,000 litres of water a year and that adds up to over 7,000 flushes a year or 142 a week. This could be increased to over 16,000 flushes a year, if low flush toilets were installed.
The Hall has also had loft insulation and new doors and windows to make it even more efficient to run.
Gareth Jones added: “It’s a neatly integrated system which lowers fuel bills, reduces the carbon footprint and means no more fuel deliveries because the ‘fuel’ is all around us and constantly available.
“The system installed can run very similarly to a traditional heating system. The heat pump has an additional auxiliary heater to give the pump a kick start when heat is required.
“This means the Village Hall members can switch the heating on an hour before and the place will be nicely heated in time. This will save energy at the moment until it’s occupied more frequently. Once the Hall is busy with several different classes being held there, it can be left on at a low temperature on tick-over.”
Jennifer Rowlands said: “We have been able to access funding from Denbighshire County Council, the Denbighshire Voluntary Services Council and from the Rural Key Fund as well as from the Community Council.
“We’re even going to have an interpretation board at the hall explaining how it all works and we’ve had a lot of interest from other communities.
“Here in Llanbedr the hall is open most evenings and during the day and we have a lot of thriving groups in the village covering everything from Pilates and karate to Scottish country dancing.
“There’s a even a railway club that comes here with enthusiasts from all over the area and they test the models they have built on a huge track that runs the length of the hall.
“Then there’s schools and various parties and events and we’re hoping that having this heating system in will mean that rather than being under threat like so many village halls that it is even busier in future.
“It did use to be rather damp and a bit smelly but now it will be a really well-heated and pleasant place for the community.”
