Tom Jenkins, the new owner of Rose Hill Manor in Port Tobacco reached out to SMO because he wanted to install air conditioning in his 18th century home. Rose Hill Manor was originally built in 1773 for Dr. Gustavus Richard Brown. Dr. Brown was a close personal friend and physician to George Washington.
Historic homes are very difficult to retrofit with modern air conditioning systems without causing damage to plaster walls and hand formed moldings. Mr. Jenkins had previously used SMO to install some heat pump systems at Cedar Hill Farm, another historic property that he owned in Prince Frederick, MD. While researching his options, Mr. Jenkins discovered a new and cutting-edge chiller heat pump system manufactured by SpacePak Corporation.
The thing that makes this system unique is that it uses water to heat and cool the house. It is less intrusive to install small pipes rather than large traditional ducting into a home with this era construction. The system uses self-contained heat pumps that can either chill or heat water, which is then pumped to a tank and distribution manifold. This system has multiple indoor air handling options including ducted systems, wall hung units and floor mounted consoles. The water is pumped to the indoor units, which have individual thermostats that allow for zoned heating and cooling. This is a new technology, and this is the first of this type of system to be installed in our region.
Spacepak Corporation is going to use this installation as a case study for their marketing efforts due to the complexity of the installation and the ideal application for the technology. At $80,000.00 this is also the largest single HVAC system installation ever installed by SMO Energy.
Outstanding effort from various team members is evident in making this a success. Brett Ewing and Albert Dellapenna handled the sales and initial system design, Mike Stewart and Randy Wallace fine-tuned the design to make it functional, and the installation crews brought it into reality. Special thanks to the installers included Senior Installers Doug Sudik and Robert Simpson, who had first class support from Dylan Kavaky, Bobby Heilmeier and Brandon Moreland. Electrical circuits were handled by Chris Robertson.4