Steam to water conversion savings

Andrew Rudin

A Smith 28A 8-section boiler supplies steam only to a steam to water exchanger in a Baltimore church boiler room.  It used to supply steam to parts of the building, but those mains are now capped.  I think the exchanger is there because the contractor thinks the height of the water will exceed 34 feet, which is what I think is the pressure limit on the 28A boiler for hot water.  I would appreciate any feedback on that because I think the height is only about 30 feet.



Second, what type of natural gas savings would you estimate from getting rid of the exchanger and converting to hot water?  The rated gas input is 2.5 million Btu.  Dividing that into the gas consumption, the PowerFlame gas burner operated about 550 hours last season.



Thanks, Andy Rudin

Charlie from wmass

Andrew

You should be gaining quite a bit of savings by sizing the new boiler to the actual load of the building. Reusing the Smith may not be your best option to really gain savings. The contributer here Known as Steamhead works in your area and is one of the very best heat guys on the east coast, If you want a professional to get your system running as efficiently as it can then contact him and his partner Gordo.

http://www.heatinghelp.com/professional/79/All-Steamed-Up-Inc

The Steam Whisperer (Formerly Boilerpro)

I second that.....

You are fortunate to have two of the best right at your doorstep.   They could even get the steam section running properly again if it is still there....usuallly a much better solution than the alternatives I've seen in most situations.