After battling for over a year with our landlord, we are very excited to finally be able to announce our new air-source heat pump. Moving forward, winter working conditions will be a whole lot more comfortable and we are already enjoying blissful air-conditioning.
When Camden Council decided to replace the boilers powering the centralised heating and hot water for the housing estate above darkroom, we did not initially know this would be the end of our free central heating, from the feeder pipes running through our unit. When this was turned off, we struggled for two years to find affordable heaters capable of warming the poorly insulated building, before deciding to bite the bullet and go for an industrial air-source system in December 2024. It then took almost a full year of negotiation with our landlord before we were finally granted permission to install in January of this year.
Greener Home Installations were rather more efficient, completing the fit-out in a single day, just in time for some chilly days in February. It was a joy to arrive after a freezing night and be able to raise the temperature in the darkroom to a comfortable 20° within 30 minutes.
Now that Summer is well and truly here, our members and workshop participants have been enjoying the fresh coolness of the air-conditioning setting of our new system. Hot, sticky days and nights leaning over the darkroom sink are now, mercifully, a think of the past.