Following Falmouth’s Merchants Manor’s three year refurbishment, six figure investment into its leisure facilities and creation of the Linen Rooms, owners Nick Rudland and his wife, Sioned have now embarked on their latest mission to create a green and more efficient approach to supplying energy to the much loved 100-year-old building.

March saw the beginning of a new era for the hotel following the installation of a combined heat and power (CHP) unit to run the baseline energy (electric and heat) demand using the natural gas supplied to site.

Nick said: “Put simply this is not a boiler. This is technology that will allow us not only to produce and provide enough energy to supply the hotel but will also reduce our carbon footprint by 25 per cent, saving 60 tonnes of CO2 per year from going into the atmosphere.”

Despite natural gas being a fossil fuel it has a much lower carbon footprint than electricity and road delivered fuels such as oil and LPG, as it is burnt at source using increasingly efficient boilers and takes very little energy to refine from extraction.

Mark Smith, MD of ZLC, said: “Natural gas is also a lot cheaper than electricity, by generating electricity on site, Merchants Manor will save 25 per cent of the electricity bill. At a time when most companies announce major hikes in their electricity prices, this system enables costs to be controlled and have less impact on the business allowing Merchants to continue to provide a cosy, luxurious yet efficient setting for their customers into the future.”

Sioned added: “This is another exciting time for the Manor. Once again I would like to thank all of our members and our customers for their support. We would also like to thank ZLC for working closely with us to ensure minimal disruption to our guests experience throughout the works.”