One of Gwynedd Council’s residential care homes has benefited from a major project to upgrade the building, which has not only created a more comfortable living environment for its residents but that is also set to deliver significant savings in the costs of maintaining the building.
Installing a new boiler and heating system at the Llys Cadfan residential home in Tywyn has meant the home’s temperature can now be monitored and controlled remotely, which means staff are now able to adjust the heating online themselves, or contact Gwynedd Council’s Energy Conservation team to alter the temperature for them.
Councillor John Wynn Jones, Gwynedd Council’s Cabinet Member for the Environment, said: “I was delighted to see the upgrading work at Llys Cadfan as part of the Council’s Carbon Management Plan which aims towards achieving our vision of a low carbon county.
“By investing to make our public buildings more energy efficient, we’re helping to save thousands of tonnes of CO₂ each year, as well as making hundreds of thousands of pounds in savings in the process.
“However, staff also have an important role to play in ensuring the plan’s success, by being proactive in saving energy wherever possible. The team at Llys Cadfan, in their efforts to minimise the amount of energy they waste, are an excellent example of this.”
The old boiler system at Llys Cadfan, coupled with the fact the building was not as efficient as it could be, made it difficult to regulate the heating, which would often make finding the right balance in temperature a challenge.
As part of the upgrading, work was also carried out to insulate the home’s pipes to make sure they retained heat. The upgrading work at Llys Cadfan was completed in stages during a period of a few years.
Llys Cadfan Manager Helen Jones said: “The upgrading work has made a huge difference. We also encourage staff to try to save energy wherever possible. My attitude is the same here as it is in my own home – if it’s not in use, switch it off.
“There has been a significant improvement since the new systems were introduced, and I’m sure we will see an even greater improvement once a second phase of pipe insulation has been completed.”
Introducing new efficient heating and lighting systems has meant the home now generates 26.2% less carbon emissions than it did 10 years ago and its electricity consumption has decreased by 13.5%, while its gas consumption is down by a remarkable 35.8%.
