Saltram House, Plymouth

National Trust owned, Saltram House is a magnificent stately home in Plymouth. Home to the Parker family for several generations, Saltram comprises an elegant Georgian façade built around a much earlier building.

One of many National Trust premises to get a renewable makeover as part of a general drive to improve the environmental credentials of its buildings, Saltram is now home to a biomass system. Plumbed together using Geberit Mapress Carbon Steel, the new heating consists of 220kW and 95kW boilers fuelled by pellets.

The biomass system replaced oil to provide heating and hot water for Saltram House itself and the majority of other buildings on the site, with hot water fed via a district heating system.

The new biomass system had to be installed within the confines of the existing building and itsheating system, while ensuring that it could be easily removed if required. Faced with narrowdoorways and cramped spaces, Geberit Mapress was the ideal solution.The age of the building and cramped environment also meant that solder was just not an optionbecause of the fire risk. Geberit Mapress and its press fit assembly is particularly well-suited tojobs of this nature.Geberit Mapress Carbon Steel plumbed together the biomass system, chosen for its ease ofuse and no hot works – ideal for historic buildings.

“We use Geberit Mapress on 95% of our jobs,” said James Howard, from Dunster Biomass, the company responsible for installing the biomass system. “It’s quick to install, easy to use and reliable. The fact there’s no need for hot works makes it ideal for historic buildings like Saltram House.“