The building is heated by a system known as a heat pump.
A heat pump works by virtue of the fact that the temperature a metre or two underground is at a fairly constant temperature, while the air temperature varies considerably during the day.
Brockweir and Hewelsfield Village Shop and Cafe
The Heat Pump
Water leaves the heat pump at a low temperature and after circulating through the pipes below the field adjacent to the shop, arrives back at the heat pump about 5 degrees Celsius warmer.
As there is about 230 litres of water in the pipes this represents a considerable amount of energy.
Heat from this water is transferred to the heat pump. The heat pump raises the temperature to useable value.
The heat is now transferred to water, this being circulated in the heating pipes within the building.
The heat pump was switched on 14th November 2003.
A watt-hour meter was fitted later to record all the electricity used by the heat pump including all the circulating pumps involved in the entire system.