Kiltallaght Dairy Farm

Flogas LPG hot water heating solution for Louth dairy farm

The Challenge

Andrew Purcell and Alf Mc Glew are proud owners of Kiltallaght Dairy Farm, a productive farm with a 300 strong herd and 20 milking points in Termonfeckin, Co. Louth. 

With the abolishment of milk quotas set for 2015, the farmers were planning an increase in milking points from 20 to 35 units. This in turn would lead to an increase in the requirement for vast amounts of hot water and a related increase in water storage costs. Kiltalllaght Farm has a wash-down period of 30 minutes duration during which a reliable hot water supply of at least 600C is necessary for the efficient cleaning of milk lines and storage tanks. This is to prevent legionella bacteria from forming. Prior to contacting Flogas, water was being heated by electricity for an hour or more before use and then stored and reheated throughout the day, this was necessary to satisfy the safety precaution of the build-up of legionella bacteria. This system led to very high fuel bills and meant Andrew and Alf were forced to look for a more viable and more efficient system.

The Flogas Solution

Flogas had a site visit with Andrew to discuss the option of LPG powered water heaters. FASTflo water heaters have the benefit of on demand hot water at whatever temperature required. Equipped with auto ignition, the Andrews FASTflo heaters would incur no running costs when the unit is idle which would completely eliminate hot water storage costs. In turn since storage of hot water is no longer an issue. In addition to this the heaters would produce 196 litres of on demand hot water in just seven minutes.

This new system would not only increase efficiencies on the farm and offer a reliable system that could cope with the high hot water demand, it would also be a more financially viable system for their business. Andrew and Alf would now only pay for the amount of hot water used as opposed to paying for high hot water storage costs, which is the case with many farms using electricity. Andrew and Alf were delighted with the proposed system and installation works began immediately.

Seamless Changeover Process

The Flogas team ensured the changeover to LPG and installation of the two 56kw Andrews FASTflo water heaters was as seamless as possible with no day to day interruption to their daily farming activities.

Results

• On demand hot water FAST – 196 litres of hot water at 800C in just seven minutes
• Increased control over water temperatures - from 37°C to 80°C via a controller
• Increased efficiency and significantly reduced running costs with no water storage costs throughout the day and night
• Reduced carbon footprint and full control in a current climate of high waste water charges