How Viessmann supported Outdoor Alternative’s journey to more energy-efficient heating
Since 1985, Outdoor Alternative in Anglesey has been serving up adventure, education, and exploration for active groups, families, and friends. A haven for those seeking to escape the hustle and bustle of everyday life and immerse themselves in the great outdoors, Outdoor Alternative prioritises sustainability in all it offers.
This commitment includes transitioning to more energy-efficient hot water and heating systems. As a result, a rewarding collaborative project saw the Vitocal 150-A air source heat pump from Viessmann Climate Solutions play a central role in supporting Outdoor Alternative’s mission to provide lower-impact accommodation.
A sustainable journey
Outdoor Alternative is an accommodation and camping site in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Rhoscolyn, on the beautiful Holy Island, just west of the island of Anglesey. Family-run since it opened 40 years ago, the site spans seven acres of sustainably managed land, featuring newly planted woodland and wildlife areas.
“We have always worked hard to reduce our energy use and minimise the impact we have on the local area,” says Chris Wright, Director of Decarbonisation at Outdoor Alternative. “Our ambition is to create special memories, while continuously working on reducing our impact.”
A pioneer of sustainable tourism, Outdoor Alternative has held a Green Tourism Gold Award since 2013. The business had its first positive experience of working with Viessmann having had a Viessmann solar thermal system installed in 2013. In 2022, it signed up to the Green Digital Academy, a programme that provides expert mentoring and advice to help SMEs adapt to a net-zero future. Since then, one of Outdoor Alternative’s key focuses has been on developing more environmentally friendly processes for providing heating and hot water to the site’s 230 m2 bunkhouse accommodation building. “Commissioning Twenty One Engineering was a pivotal moment in gaining clarity on the steps that could be taken to actually implement the changes required,” explains Chris.
First, Outdoor Alternative invested in additional on-site solar PV and battery storage, for electricity. Via a collaboration with Mixergy and Twenty One Engineering, they installed two 300-litre heat pump-ready Mixergy smart hot water tanks. Mixergy’s patented connected cylinder technology, which works with multiple types of heat generator, enabled Outdoor Alternative to track its hot water usage and adjust the schedule to align with its fluctuating customer booking volumes so that only the water required was heated. Initially, this was achieved with the site’s existing LPG boilers. However, in 2024, Outdoor Alternative moved towards its net-zero commitment by replacing its boilers with a 10 kW Viessmann Vitocal 150-A air source heat pump.
A seamless collaboration
The 10 kW Vitocal heat pump has a rating of A++ for energy efficiency under the EU Energy-related Products (ErP) Directive and is easy to operate through Viessmann’s ViCare app.
With flow temperatures reaching up to 70°C, the Vitocal 150-A integrates well with Mixergy’s technology. “The interplay between the Viessmann heat pump and Mixergy’s two 300-litre DHW cylinders is seamless,” says Peter Spurway, Head of Key Accounts & Strategic Partnerships at Viessmann Climate Solutions UK. “We’ve got a domestic hot water sensor that they tap into with the technology, and it all works very efficiently.”
Outdoor Alternative has seen positive results since the system was installed. The heating system has a Co-efficient of Performance (COP) to EN 14511 of 4.1 over 284 days at the time of writing, as recorded on the open source heatpumpmonitor.org website. Water and space heating LPG emissions have gone from almost 12 tCO2e in 2023, the last full year of operation of its previous LPG boilers, to zero with the heat pump installed.
The Vitocal 150-A uses the "green" refrigerant R290 (propane), which is considered particularly environmentally responsible with its very low GWP100 (global warming potential) of 0.02.
“Paired with our onsite PV generation and battery storage, and utilising a variable rate ‘time of use’ tariff, we are very happy with the 34% reduction in heat, light and power costs over the last 12 months. “With very high DHW usage, the fact that the Vitocal 150A can deliver super quick recovery times at 70℃ but then modulate back down to delivering space heating at a mean flow temperature of 34.2℃,” says Chris Wright.
Striving for a greener future
Outdoor Alternative has demonstrated what’s possible when working with companies committed to delivering solutions that reduce the carbon footprint of businesses.
“We can’t speak highly enough of the fantastic support we’ve had from everyone we’ve worked with at Viessmann Climate Solutions, as well as Mixergy and Twenty One Engineering,” says Wright. “We do all of this because it is the right thing to do for the planet, and for the people who visit our site.
Outdoor Alternative’s renewable journey continues, as Chris Wright explains: “With the total removal of our reliance on burning LPG on site being the ultimate goal, in common with many strategic plans, the “last mile” is often the most challenging. On-site electrical load balancing, load shedding and District Network Operator (DNO) permissions remain a challenge to meeting this goal. However, we are confident that with the in-depth monitoring we have in place and with continued support from the fantastic network of advisors, manufacturers and installers, we will get there.
