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Showing posts from November, 2019

Commercial HVAC Professionals Need to Pick a Go-To Control System

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  As technology in the heating industry marches forward, the complexity and options within commercial heating designs presents an interesting paradox. The systems are getting both simpler, and more complex at the same time. How is this possible you may ask? Plug & Play Boiler Control For certain smaller commercial applications, steam boilers now boast features like integrated lead/lag capability, up to 95% thermal efficiency, integrated outdoor reset, pretty touchscreen displays, data logging and more plug and play connections. Boiler manufacturers are doing their best to get on the bandwagon with all things digital and most have cobbled together rudimentary control systems into their boilers that allow them to achieve better efficiency and easier installation for professionals. Still, most commercial HVAC contractors prefer a dedicated control system for anything but the most simple boiler configurations. Systems like these take energy management to a whole

Solving the Unique Problems of Large Distributed Heating Systems

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 In college campus’ or apartment complexes, multiple boilers, multiple boiler rooms and multiple buildings present a real challenge for a complex manager. The tactics employed to keep energy usage at a comfortable minimum are complex and every campus is different, but here are a few of the common issues and solutions faced by these large, distributed, and often older buildings. Thermal Shock Thermal shock occurs when water cools down significantly during off times, shocking the boilers with cold water when the system pumps come back on line. Not only does this issue damage the boilers, it can also run the maintenance staff ragged as they fly around the building at all hours of the day and night manually adjusting valves. Heat-Timer® products helped resolve these problems by providing motorized valves and Hot Water Reset (HWR) controls in each of the boiler plants. The Platinum Series HWR control helped resolve the boiler problems by operating the system based on outd

Top 4 Green Trends for Commercial Heating Systems in 2020

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The skyrocketing cost of energy, coupled with advanced developments in heating and cooling technology, means that being “green” may refer to the color of money, as much as the environment. The government is involved too, setting and updating energy efficiency standards at both the state and federal level. All these changes conspire to create an ecosystem in 2020 that is more fuel efficient, uses more renewable energy sources, and increases comfort while decreasing energy use overall. Trend 1 – Smarter Heating System Designs As more and more older buildings are faced with increasingly challenging comfort and energy usage issues using their aging boilers, they will continue to replace these with newer, high efficiency systems. These new system designs will almost universally include some kind of advanced building energy management system that acts like the conductor of the boiler orchestra. Additionally, using control technology with features like outdoor reset, will insur