COOL CARE FOR WEST WALES BABIES
When considering
heating and cooling systems, hospital managers need to
be aware of many considerations and these are never more
critical than in a special baby care unit (SBCU). Constant,
appropriate temperatures together with high comfort levels
are vital and the issue of cost is always present. A Welsh
hospital turned to Unico System International
for the solution they needed.
 The 6 bed SCBU consists of
a 10m by 6m intensive care room with incubators, a separate
2.8m by 3m "isolation" room,
and a 6m by 4m nursery. With incubators able to maintain
environmental temperature, the nursery had the greatest need.
Andrew Hanney, at the hospital's Works Department, comments, "We
have a building with a high proportion of glazing, causing
too much heat loss in winter and heat gain in the summer.
Reducing the glazing helped but we needed a comfort system
that would give us more responsive performance and cope with
both heating and cooling requirements."
The obvious benefits
of the Unico System were the delivery of warm or cool air
using the same system and the evenness and consistency
of temperature provided by the aspiration process.
Unico
was able to offer expert advice and the job was passed to
installer Celtic Thermal, who put in two separate systems;
a master control unit with a "slave" system operating
in the isolation room. The energy source is an electric refrigeration
unit providing a heat pump, keeping running costs low and
allowing heating or cooling to be delivered automatically.
The unit sister says, “This system allows us to control
the environmental temperature of the unit which we were not
able to do previously. The unit is maintained at an even
temperature, and this has improved the environment for the
babies and the working conditions for the staff.”
ABOUT
UNICO SYSTEM INTERNATIONAL
Unico System International Ltd
is a sister company of Unico Inc. in the United States.
This is a privately-held company dedicated solely to producing
the Unico System, an indoor air handler and flexible mini-duct
system that offers more options than any other conventional
heating/ventilation/air conditioning (HVAC) system. The
Unico System is suitable for use in existing buildings as
well as for use in new construction.
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