Monkwearmouth and Roker district heating
Core 364 is a district heating scheme in Monkwearmouth and Roker where a ground source heat pump system heats homes in 7 high-rise buildings.
Overview
This is a renewable energy heating system that has lower carbon emissions than gas central heating systems and reduces the carbon footprint of the buildings. This makes the buildings cleaner and more environmentally friendly.
The high-rise buildings are:
- Church Street North
- Dame Dorothy Crescent
- Devonshire Tower
- Dock Street
- Eglinton Tower
- Victor Street
- Zetland Square
In 2019, we removed the gas supply to these buildings to improve building safety. We fitted:
- new radiators
- electric heat pumps to replace gas boilers, also known as a Shoebox
- Sunamp units
- Switchee thermostats
Short video guide to the Core 364 heating system
Reporting a repair
If you have a problem with your heating or hot water, you can report a repair.
If you have a problem with your Switchee thermostat, call Switchee on 0800 133 7957.
Radiators
We fitted modern radiators along with the new heating system. You can change the temperature of the radiators in each room by using the radiator’s controls.
We recommend you leave all radiators on. If you turn off any of the radiators, it will affect the heating of your home.
If you dry clothes on the radiators or block them with furniture, your home will feel colder.
Electric heat pump
An electric heat pump, also known as a Shoebox, uses heat taken from beneath the ground to give your home the heat and hot water it needs.
We recommend you always leave the heat pump switched on.
The heat pump works best when it is set at 21°C during the day and 16°C during the night. If the temperature drops below 16°C, it will take longer to heat your home.
You use the Switchee thermostat to set the temperature.
Faults
There is a display on the front of your heat pump. If there is a fault with the heat pump, an error message will appear on the display. The most common error codes are:
- ‘TP’ and ‘LP’ when there is low water pressure
- ‘HP’ when there is high water pressure
- ‘A1’ when there is an anti-freeze alarm
Sunamp unit
The Sunamp unit stores hot water for your home. You only need to touch the Sunamp unit in an emergency when you have no hot water.
If you have no hot water, switch on the backup hot water. This is the switch next to the unit. When you turn on your backup hot water, a red light will appear.
When you have enough hot water, or we have repaired the fault, turn off your backup hot water. It costs more to use the backup hot water all the time.
Switchee thermostat
The Switchee thermostat controls the temperature of your heating and hot water.
We recommend you use pre-set profiles so you will not need to continually change your thermostat’s settings.
Using pre-set thermostat profiles
You need to select separate profiles for heating and hot water.
We recommend you use the ‘Heat Pump Profile’ for your heating and hot water. These profiles:
- set your heating to 21°C at 6:30am and 16°C at 9pm
- turn on your hot water from 9pm to midnight to make sure you have enough hot water the next day
- give you hot water if the heating is on between midnight and 6:30am
The ‘Home All Day’ profiles work 7 days a week. These profiles:
- set your heating to 21°C at 9am and 16°C at 9pm
- turn on your hot water from 8am to 10am and 4pm to 6:30pm
The ‘At Work’ profiles work from Monday to Friday. These profiles:
- set your heating to 21°C from 6am to 8am and 5pm to 9pm, and 16°C from 8am to 5pm and 9pm to 6am
- turn on your hot water from 6:30am to 7:30am and 4:30pm to 6:30pm
If you use the ‘At Work’ profiles, you must select other profiles on a Saturday and Sunday so you will have heating or hot water.
Follow these steps to select a pre-set profile.
- Go to the Switchee thermostat.
- Press the screen to switch the device on.
- Press the spanner in the top left of the screen to open the settings menu.
- Press ‘Programmer’.
- Press ‘Heating’ or ‘Hot Water’.
- On ‘Pre-set Heating Setting’ or ‘Pre-set Hot Water Setting’, press ‘More’.
- Choose a pre-set profile.
Resetting your thermostat
If you get a message that asks you to reset the Switchee thermostat, use the override unit in the cupboard next to your heat pump.
If you have just moved into your home, Switchee will:
- reset your thermostat
- send you a message to ask you to accept the terms and conditions of their privacy policy before you can use the thermostat
Messages
Gentoo and Switchee can use your thermostat to send you messages that are relevant to you. The thermostat will display the messages for you to read.
When there is a new message, a light will flash on the thermostat to let you know. The message will appear when you touch the screen. Once you have read the message, you can leave it and use the thermostat as you usually do.
Further information
Core 364: A guide to using your heating system (PDF, 2.97MB)