Saw a 20 year old boiler in a Philly school go from a 65% efficiency rating to over 90% after a full tube bundle replacement last month.

3 comments

3 Comments

Grant413 is right about the payback period. It's wild that schools will let those things run into the ground when the fix pays for itself so fast.

grant41326d ago

That jump in efficiency is huge for an old unit. The tube bundle is where all the heat transfer happens, so when those tubes get scaled up, it's like trying to breathe through a straw. A full replacement basically gives the boiler a new set of lungs. Schools don't always budget for it, but the fuel savings usually pay it back in just a few heating seasons.

keith_owens325d ago

Man, it's the same story everywhere, isn't it? We'll patch a roof ten times instead of just replacing it, or keep fixing a clunker car because the big check for a new one feels scary. It's that short term budget panic that costs way more in the long run. You see it with old furnaces in houses too, just burning money.