Ramsey on all the ‘hot air’ at Stormont

DUP MLA Jim Wells was ‘hot and bothered’ because he thought the heat had been left on in the Long Gallery and Room 115, Parliament Buildings, during fine spring weather being enjoyed here over May 28 and May 29, 2012.

But Mr Ramsey, as Representative of the Assembly Commission, explained that the heating system for these areas - a low temperature hot water system using gas fired boilers - was not in operation over the two days in question

He said the heating within the Long Gallery and Room 115 differed from the rest of the building in that it is heated by radiators with convector fans.

“The heat for these convectors is a by-product from the air handling units in the building and is fed by the constant temperature (CT) pumps. When additional heat is required in these rooms the convector fans are employed to circulate the heat.

“On the days in question, as the air handling units were in operation, the CT pumps were passing hot water through the system but the convector fans were not in operation,” explained the Foyle SDLP MLA.

He said the a quirk in Stormonts energy system affords only limited control over the heating and cooling systems in the building.

He said the Assembly Commission has plans to upgrade it during a forthcoming roof refurbishment project.

“Building Services are aware of the problem in the areas that you refer to when there is a high ambient temperature and investigatory work is currently taking place to see if it would be possible to install additional isolation valves to allow greater control over the heating and cooling in these areas,” he stated.