Solar Heating System For Pool – Crowne Plaze Hotel

Over the past few years the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Alice Springs has demonstrated a willingness to save on hotel running costs and at the same time reduce its carbon footprint.

As a part of this strategy, Hotel Management engaged the services of The Centre for Appropriate
Energy, a private firm that carries out energy audits for Commercial Pool Owners and Government bodies with the aim of reducing energy consumption and costs for the heating of swimming pools. They determined that Solar Heating would help the Hotel with its costs and its carbon footprint.

Heliocol was approached to see what could be done to reduce the hotel’s swimming pool heating and energy costs.

After several visits and consultations, Heliocol suggested utilizing 3 pitched roofs and an adjacent flat roof for the installation of a Heliocol solar heating System. Subsequently the pool heating system was installed as 2 separate systems utilizing 2 dedicated pumps and solar controllers. This allowed for easier operation and control by the hotel maintenance staff after installation.

During their energy audit, the Crowne Plaza also installed the southern hemisphere’s largest roof-mounted PV solar electric system, and to further improve sustainability they included into the program, solar water heating, decommissioning of old steam boilers, replacement of inefficient lights and fittings, greater use of re-cycling, installation of water-saving devices and improvements to their air-conditioning.

The Crowne Plaza Alice Springs subsequently went on to win a Telstra Business of the Year Award for Innovation. Heliocol congratulates Crowne Plaza Alice Springs and appreciates the opportunity to help them achieve their goal of dramatically reducing their energy requirements.