Mitsubishi Electric delivers hybrid air conditioning to boutique Edinburgh hotel

Mitsubishi Electric has provided Edinburgh’s Haymarket Hub hotel with a City Multi Hybrid VRF air conditioning system to deliver energy efficient, controllable comfort.

During a recent refurbishment of the hotel, All Seasons Group installed the two-piped air conditioning technology, which uses water to transfer heating and cooling around the 195-bedroom facility.

"This extensive overhaul of our heating and air conditioning provision allows us to offer elevated levels of comfort to all the guests of this key property within The Edinburgh Collection, which welcomes travellers from all over the globe to Scotland's capital”, explained Ricky Kapoor, Managing Director of The Edinburgh Collection.

Eight dedicated outdoor condensing units deliver energy harvested from the outdoor air to special Hybrid Branch Controller (HBC) boxes strategically placed in laundry cupboards throughout the building.

From these control boxes, plastic water piping runs within the ceiling void to every hotel room, rather than using traditional refrigerant piping. Each room has its own dedicated indoor fan coil unit to provide the individual temperature required, giving guests the comfort they expect. This use of water also means the hotel does not have to fit expensive leak detection equipment to comply with the BS EN378 safety and environmental standard.

“The Edinburgh Collection prides itself on modern levels of comfort for guests and when we proposed installing Hybrid VRF, the client was in complete agreement,” explained Simon Smith, Project Manager for All Seasons Group Ltd, who designed, installed and commissioned the system.

A centralised control system also enables the hotel staff to monitor individual rooms, while allowing guests to have complete control of their own system. This delivers individual temperatures for each room, but ensures that empty rooms aren’t wasting energy and increasing bills for the hotel.

The design of the system also minimises any noise for guests, which is a major consideration in any hotel. The siting of the HBC boxes in the laundry room allows for easy access for maintenance and means individual rooms can be shut down without having to drain the whole system.