Innovation fund project - Kingsgate Hotel Autolodge Paihia, Bay of Islands
In 2006 the Kingsgate Hotel Autolodge in Paihia installed solar water heating onto its newest hotel block. This investment was so successful that in 2007 they committed to investing in this technology for the existing hotel amenities.
The current project involved the installation of two Beacon solar water heating systems with a total panel collector area of 98.7m2 onto two hotel blocks. The hot water produced will be used for 76 guest rooms, the laundry, kitchen, restaurant and bar.
Reid Technology designed the solar water heating system and the installation was managed by Dave Hesketh Plumbing Ltd.
The Bay of Islands appears to be an ideal location for this type of installation, with warm all year round temperatures and high sunshine hours. Peak occupancy in the hotel occurs in the period of highest solar gain.
The Hotel owners anticipate that the additional solar water heating will reflect well on the hotel both when being assessed for their Qualmark rating and also with increasingly environmentally conscious tourists.
The Autolodge Hotel has have been collecting electricity usage data since August 2007 and are very interested in monitoring the savings of the new system. Monitoring results should be available by the end of November 2009.
