Commercial heating
Keep it cost effective
Ideal Commercial Boilers’ chief commercial officer, Darren Finley, takes a look at how to get optimum energy performance from modern condensing boilers, when installed as a replacement for older standard efficiency boilers
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t’s widely accepted that modern boilers offer superior efficiency over their predecessors. However, despite
excellent energy efficiency credentials, it is important to consider other factors that could affect effective operation, both pre- and post installation.
Peak performance
It is essential to think of the whole system when installing new condensing boilers. Installing brand-new boilers onto an old system that is clogged with debris and dirt will immediately reduce its effectiveness. One consequence of an ageing system is ‘dirty-water’. If this is transferred into the new boilers it will negatively impact their ability to run efficiently, potentially leading to breakdowns and even failure. When commissioning commercial
boilers, in advance of installation, we encourage installers to consider treating the water within the existing system. This helps to ensure the boiler’s longevity and can protect its internal parts from corrosion and the build-up of scale over time.
With installation to an existing system, another consideration is ‘system separation’, via a plate heat exchanger. A plate heat exchanger works by transferring heat from the primary circuit to the second via heat transfer and without the system’s potentially dirty water coming in direct contact with the circuit. However, a heat exchanger will only function at its peak efficiency when the water velocity passing through it is maintained within prescribed parameters. Therefore, accurate sizing of the plate heat exchanger is required before installation.
Post installation potential
Modern commercial boilers are extremely efficient and, following installation, there
March 2017
are numerous cost savings to be realised. With correct management and regular maintenance, they can lower overall fuel costs and reduce energy consumption. These savings on fuel bills and energy
usage can often offset the initial cost of installing a new boiler, but it is very common to find that boilers are not being properly looked after, once installed, and are therefore failing to achieve their full potential.
Maximum efficiency
Regular maintenance and servicing of any commercial boiler will ensure that it is always running at its best. Maintenance is key for avoiding downtime due to mechanical breakdown – consequences of which can vary from a simple inconvenience to a potentially life- threatening situation. Also, financial penalties can be incurred for facilities managers operating within strict Service Level Agreements. Routine inspection and preventative maintenance is therefore essential for keeping boiler efficiency up and fuel costs down, yet maintaining commercial boilers is not only about delivering efficiencies, but avoiding wider issues and maintaining good customer relations. Boiler servicing also plays an important
role throughout its life and boiler positioning should be a key consideration at the time of installation to ensure easy access. It is also a critical requirement of most manufacturer warranties which are reliant on an annual service from an accredited technician. Ideal Commercial’s Evomax range of
boilers, for example, come with a five-year warranty when commissioned by Ideal Commercial. These remain valid when serviced annually by an engineer who has attended the free Evomax course at one of the UK training centres. This approach
Compact Evomax Boilers offer ease of maintenance & installation
encourages best practice to ensure that the product continues to operate as designed by the manufacturer.
Managing effectiveness
Once a new boiler installation is in situ, it is essential that the heating system is then well-managed if the end-user is to realise the cost benefits. We already mentioned regular maintenance, but there are simple management processes that can make a difference, such as monitoring your gas bills and regularly auditing usage patterns in the building. A new commercial boiler installation should result in a decrease in fuel consumption, so if bills aren’t going down the system could need looking at to make sure everything is running as intended. Results from usage audits can also inform the configuration of the building’s system to make sure that only those zones requiring heat are being used.
www.heatingandventilating.net
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