Vale & Downland Museum

Worcester Bosch boiler upgrade completed while the Wantage museum remained open.

Brick facade and tiled roof of the Vale and Downland Museum in Wantage

The project

Simplifying an ageing museum heating system

The Vale & Downland Museum contacted the Oxyplumb Commercial team to upgrade its ageing heating and hot-water system. The existing installation used two Vaillant regular boilers and a small hot-water cylinder serving only two WC basins.

A cold-water storage tank and feed-and-expansion tank were positioned above a museum display cabinet. Our design removed that stored water from above the exhibits while modernising the boiler plant and retaining suitable existing controls.

One system boiler and one combination boiler

The replacement design uses one Worcester Bosch Greenstar 8000+ system boiler and one Worcester Bosch Greenstar 8000+ combination boiler, both supplied with 12-year guarantees.

The combination boiler now provides hot water directly to the two WC basins, allowing the redundant hot-water cylinder to be decommissioned and removed. Removing the cylinder eliminated unnecessary stored hot water and its associated Legionella temperature-monitoring requirements.

The cold-water storage tank and feed-and-expansion tank were also removed, reducing the risk of stored water damaging the museum display below. Thermostatic mixing valves control the temperature at the two basin outlets and allow the delivered temperatures to be tested safely.

Hydraulic design and new boiler-room equipment

The boiler-room pipework was redesigned around a 70 kW low-loss header, providing hydraulic separation between the new boilers and the museum’s heating circuits.

New Grundfos UPS3 circulation pumps.
A 28 mm Worcester Bosch Greenstar system filter on the return to each boiler.
An 18-litre Robokit sealed-system expansion kit to add expansion capacity and reduce demand on the boilers’ internal vessels.
Two new flue systems running horizontally from the boilers, rising vertically and terminating horizontally at high level.
Existing suitable heating controls retained and integrated with the new installation.

Replacing two ageing room convector heaters

The project also included replacement of two ageing room convector heaters. Each unit is connected to the heating system by flow and return pipework. Heated water passes through an internal coil, and a fan moves room air across the coil to deliver warm air into the museum space.

The old exposed units were replaced with clean, enclosed room convector heaters suited to the public areas in which they operate.

Working safely while the museum remained open

The museum stayed open throughout the work. The Oxyplumb Commercial team maintained safe passage through the building, kept working areas clean and tidy, and carefully managed the installation around visitors, staff and exhibits.

After testing and commissioning the complete heating and hot-water system, the museum received a full handover pack. The redundant boilers, tanks, cylinder, old room convectors and installation waste were removed from site and disposed of responsibly.