Fuel Savings Updates (Gordo & Steamhead)

Steve Garson_2

I have enough oil consumption to see the savings on the boiler at the Windsor Club in Newton, MA. This is a Smith Model 19 Series 6 that was fired with a 2.5 GPH nozzle, which matched the load. My feeling was that such a big boiler needed more firepower, so I installed a 3.5 GPH nozzle. Also, added a fan-in-can, since last year we had sooting from inadequate fresh air.

Last year, the system has absolutely NO main vents. I installed Gorton's on the mains. The steam pipes in the boiler room and some parts of the basement were uninsulated, so I insulated them.

Finally, and this is what makes the savings numbers hard to analyze: instead of heating the building to 70* from 8AM to 11PM daily , we keep it at 55* and only heat it on the three days a week that it is used. The place heats up remarkably well, without the expected cold feeling of the wall mass.

Oil savings on a degree day basis: 30%. Last year we used 5500 gallons.

My next project is to reinstall the LWCO/boiler feeder, since it is installed two inches too high, so the water level is always two inches above the normal line. Also, the boiler has a bullnose feeding the mains, so I want to re-pipe that in the off season. We're getting there. I'm finding it hard to find people who work with 3-inch and 4-inch pipe.

Steamhead (in transit)

Numbers are starting to come in

For the Ambassador Apartments, which we described in this thread:

http://forums.invision.net/Thread.cfm?CFApp=2&Thread_ID=59088&mc=13

the most recent gas bill showed a savings of 32.3%.

For Dmitri's Tavern, a rowhouse-type building with offices and rooms for rent on the second floor, the most recent bill showed a 20% saving on gas. This was the building where we had to thread a 2-1/2" steam pipe in place:

http://forums.invision.net/Thread.cfm?CFApp=2&&Message_ID=419297&_#Message419297

We also did a venting upgrade and replaced a plugged drip, which were responsible for a good part of the savings.

The most recent upgrade at the Bromo-Seltzer Tower- adding TRVs- saved them 10% on their steam consumption (they get their steam from the grid). Here's the thread:

http://forums.invision.net/Thread.cfm?CFApp=2&Thread_ID=57093&mc=14

More to come! If anyone has similar savings figures, feel free to post them here.

"Steamhead"

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