Carrowcroft Holsteins, a 250-cow dairy farm in County Down, has replaced two electric water heaters with three Navien NPE tankless water heaters to improve hot water availability and reduce running costs.
The farm uses hot water to wash the milking parlour twice a day, clean the milk tank every other day and prepare milk for calves. The previous system frequently ran out of hot water, forcing staff to wait for the boost function to heat the water or plan cleaning and feeding around its availability.
Working with a local installer, the farm installed three NPE units in a parallel and cascading configuration. The system can operate at temperatures of up to 85°C and provides hot water automatically.
The switch from electric to gas has also reduced operating costs, with the farm estimating savings of 30–40%.
The system requires little maintenance, while each heater monitors its gas consumption. The farm can also use a connected app from its gas supplier to monitor usage and arrange automatic top-ups.
