Community Heating in Action

Community Heating provides heat for homes, commercial and public buildings. Linking community heating with a high efficiency Combined Heat and Power (CHP) system means that electricity can also be produced and used locally.

Community heating systems replace individual heating systems within homes with locally-based heating plant, often based on CHP. Hot water from the CHP unit and other heat sources is pumped to homes and other buildings using a network of highly insulated pipes. Heat is then transferred using a small heat exchanger, to radiators and water heating cylinders just as in conventional heating systems.

The versatility of Community Heating enables it to be used on projects of any size, whether they cover a wide area such as a city or a concentrated location such as a town centre, university campus or hospital.

The cities of Sheffield, Nottingham and Southampton all have successful, large-scale community heating schemes operated by private/public sector energy services companies. Many other urban authorities, including most London Boroughs, Bristol, Mansfield, Doncaster, Wakefield and Manchester, operate smaller schemes typically serving individual housing estates.