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THE
Boiler ReportAugust, 2016 • Vol 4, Issue 8
What’s Inside…
Mercury Thermostats ............................. 2
Ellen Rohr’s Bare Bones BizTips ............. 3
Beck Tips: Sage Zone Control ................. 4
K2FT below Independence Monument.. 5-6
Oil Burners and Olympic Barbells........... 7
Published by U.S. Boiler CompanyManufacturer of Burnham® Brand Products
With the heating season around the corner, we want to make sure your toolbox is equipped with the right equipment. That’s why we’ve worked diligently to introduce new products and extend our condensing capability!
Our family of high efficiency condensing boilers range in size from a modest 80 MBH to an impressive 800 MBH, and with more options than any other manufacturer in the hydronic industry.
Watertube? We have it. Firetube? Have that too. Combi? We’ve got combi options in the original K2 AND the new K2 Firetube. Value price? We have that in the new X-C condensing boiler. Wall mount and/or floor mount in the same model? No problem…the proven Alpine boiler can be used as either a floor or wall mounted boiler up to 210 MBH. What about commercial sizes?
We’ve got you covered …the Alpine is available in 399, 500, 600, 700, and 800 MBH!
Don’t forget about our proven cast iron boiler line! From the adward winning, high efficiency, oil-fried MPO-IQ with an advanced designed 3-pass heat exchanger, to the only atmospheric gas boiler made in America, the ES2, boasting at 85% AFUE... we’ve got you covered!
Together, the expansive lineup of heating products from U.S. Boiler Company offers capability for any hydronic heating application and is a reliable resource for any professional.
Talk to your local sales representative of Burnham brand home heating equipment and ask them about our product lineup. For more information, visit our website at:
www.usboiler.net
Gearing Up for the Heating Season!
A force to be reckoned with! USB’s condensing display van continues it’s summer trek eastward, as it poses here next to a B-1B Lancer on display at the South Dakota Air & Space Museum (photo courtesy of Tim Lindsrom, McCoy Sales)
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One of the most commonly asked questions staff from the Thermostat Recycling Corporation (TRC) receive while conducting outreach is, “So what is it you guys do, exactly?”
To put that question to rest, I’ll lay it out plain and simple: we do exactly what our company name says we do.
The Thermostat Recycling Corporation recycles mercury thermostats. Founded voluntarily in 1998 by Honeywell, White-Rodgers, and General Electric, TRC was established as a non-profit product stewardship organization with the goal of ensuring the toxic elemental mercury found in thermostat switches doesn’t end up back in the environment. This is accomplished mainly by distributing recycling bins to HVAC wholesale distributors, contractors, and local county recycling facilities around the country.
Establishing TRC was probably the right call, because in the 18 years or so TRC has been operating, the business has recovered more than ten – count ’em – ten tons of mercury. Do you know how much ten tons actually is? I’ll give you a visual. Picture a full-grown polar bear. These giant fluffy terrors weigh about half a ton. Now picture twenty full-grown polar bears. If you can imagine all twenty of those polar bears stacked on top of one another, that’s about the same weight of mercury TRC has kept out of our waterways.
But enough of the bragging, how does knowledge of TRC apply to readers of the US Boiler Report? Well, TRC does about 80% of its work
exclusively with HVAC contractors and wholesalers because studies and years of experience have shown that HVAC contractors are the people who are by far most likely to take a mercury thermostat off the wall. This leaves the fate of mercury thermostats quite literally in their hands, in YOUR hands. When a contractor removes a mercury thermostat from service, that thermostat is going to end up one of two places – the trash or a recycling bin. TRC is here to make it as easy as possible for that thermostat to end up in a recycling bin.
TRC doesn’t do this just because it’s the right thing to do, but also because there are regulations regarding mercury thermostat disposal. Not only is it illegal to throw away any mercury thermostat removed from service from a commercial building, but 13 states have enacted laws that mandate the recycling of any mercury thermostat removed from service by a contractor. For example, New York Title 29 (Mercury Thermostat Collection Act) Section 27 – 2909 Article 3.1 states,
“Any person or contractor who replaces a mercury-containing thermostat from a building shall deliver the mercury-containing thermostat to an appropriate collection site.”
Seems pretty straightforward: “Thou shalt recycle mercury thermostats!” It’s not part of the Ten Commandments or anything, but it is the law. Fines for contractors who throw away mercury thermostats can reach up
Mercury Thermostats: Turning Quicksilver into Gold
to $500.00, so vigilance is key for sparing the piggy bank a painful and unnecessary gutting.
To save Mr. Piggy Bank and make compliance with regulations as easy as possible, TRC has over 3,600 recycling bins distributed around the continental US. There are 13 states that require HVAC wholesale distributors to have a mercury thermostat recycling bin present at their store. The rest of the state collection locations do it anyway because it is the right thing to do, customers appreciate environmental services, and because like most human beings when they hear “free service” they tend to say “yes please”.
There are financial reasons to participate in TRC’s program other than the penalty fees for non-participation. While disposal using TRC’s program is free for contractors, contractors are still able to charge customers for the service of proper disposal. From there, it makes sense to offer to replace the old mercury thermostat with a more energy efficient programmable thermostat, which not only is more “green” but saves money on the energy bill. If charging for services like proper disposal isn’t your thing, it is still a distinguishing and marketable service that customers tend to appreciate.
How does an HVAC contractor stand out from the pack? The answer: excellent customer service that meets the demands of a wide
By Piper Mlsna, Outreach Specialist with Thermostat Recycling Corporation
– Continues, see “Mercury”, page 8
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By Ellen Rohr
BareBonesBizTips
Russell Conwell gave a speech, the same speech, over 6,000 times. In it, he described a young man who gave up everything he had… his family farm, the family… to travel the world to find his fortune. He searched wide and far. Alas, he died penniless. His body was returned home where his heartbroken family dug his grave. And there they discovered the world’s largest diamond mine.
You have probably heard this story before. In 1890 the speech was transcribed into a book. Proceeds from the speeches and books sales helped Conwell build a fortune. With it, he founded Temple University in Philadelphia. He also funded two hospitals in the City of Brotherly Love, where no one was ever turned away for lack of money. He found his fortune doing what he loved, right where he was.
I don’t buy every point of Mr. Conwell’s pro-wealth, anti-poverty argument. However, this book is a self-help classic and you might want to form your own opinion about his philosophy. Here’s the link:
http://www.amazon.com/Acres-Diamonds-Things-Possible-Right/dp/1449944418
On this we agree: All good things are possible. And I also believe that we have everything we need to
create a fortune offering our unique gifts and services to our fellow man.
Are you searching wide and far? How about you? Are you chasing the latest management fad? Are you looking for the one thing you might be missing that will make it all better? The magic bullet? Or maybe you’re just on the “hamster wheel” trying to get different results from doing the same things… faster and faster.
We can ask ourselves, “Is it a lack of information? Or is it a lack of willingness? Are you willing to take action on information that will move you to your dreams? Because the information is available. You may even have it already. Certainly, you can get the information you may be missing.
How about if we just quit talking about the things in life that are going wrong? Of course, you’ll notice them. As you notice, ask yourself, “What would I rather experience?” Think about what you want and gain clarity on it.
Here’s an exercise that can help. Create your Perfect Life… on paper. Take a deep breath. Let it out… and calm your mind. Then, ask yourself,
Like me – really, really like me !
Facebook:
www.facebook.com/ellenrohr
Like me and I will like you right back!
Or, reach me at:
417.753.1111
“What do I want?” and listen for the very first thoughts that come to mind. Write them down without judgment. Notice your feelings as you write the words. If it feels good, you are on the right track.
Acknowledge what you have created already and be grateful for it. Lots of things are going right for you… are just perfect as they are! Next, look at what you still want to create. Could you take action in this direction? Could you find the information you need and act on it? Sure you could.
If it feels good just imaging this life, then imagine it. Stop focusing on (obsessing about?) the areas of your life that aren’t working. Notice how many elements of the Perfect Life you have going for you already. Isn’t the reason why you want what you don’t have is that you think it will make you happier?
What if instead of waiting for the diamond mine to appear, you chose to be happy right now?
Perhaps you’re sitting on it.
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exactly to the zone losses. You can program less than the minimum input of the boiler. The boiler won’t fire less than minimum, but it will fire to minimum. It’s even possible that two zones could call and the boiler will remain at minimum fire, depending on the number and size of the zones and boiler size.
Option 2
I call this one “Pipe Size Programing”, and it provides a little less energy savings than Heat Loss Programming, but it’s two steps up in efficiency.
Because design parameters for piping generally maintain between 2 ft. to 4 ft. per second, a pipe can only carry a certain amount of BTUs within these parameters. Systems are normally designed with a 20°F Delta-T, or temperature drop across the system. Here is a list of BTUs and GPM for given pipe sizes.
Pipe Size BTUs GPM
1/2” 17,000 1.7
3/4” 40,000 4
1” 70,000 7
1-1/4” 160,000 16
1-1/2” 240,000 24
With this info as a ballpark load figure, we can program the zones according to pipe size. If Zone 1 is a living room zone piped in ¾” pipe, you could type in the zone name and set the BTUs to 40,000. But keep in mind, just because
the firing rate will rise from 40% as needed, but only if needed.
For properly-sized boilers, that may be OK. But for oversized boilers - which I believe accounts for 80% or more new boilers installed without heat loss performed – the
factory settings would be less efficient, though still much better than using a standard zone control.
Let’s discuss the three ways to program the SZC if you want to save your customer more money. Again, you don’t have to change the programing at all, but to provide the absolute highest efficiency possible, you should.
Option 1
I call this “Heat Loss Programing”, and it will save the property owner the largest amount of energy and money.
If a room by room heat loss was completed to properly size the boiler, you already have all the information you need. Add together the heat loss of all the rooms on a single zone. The total is the number you program into the control for that specific zone. Remember, you can also name the zone: for instance, “Kids Bedrooms”.
This approach will save the most money, as it matches the boiler’s firing rate
By Ron Beck,U.S. Boiler Company
Installing a new modulating/condensing boiler will save your customer fuel dollars. It’s not headline news anymore. Properly sizing that boiler, after doing a heat loss calculation, will increase those savings. And, as we discussed last month in the USBR, adding the US Boiler Sage Zone Control (SZC) to the system will save your customer even more money.
Even if the Sage Zone Control (SZC) factory program settings aren’t changed, it will reduce your customer’s fuel consumption, whether the control is part of a new installation or added after the fact.
Out of the box, the SZC is factory-programed to fire all the zones at 40% of the rated input of the boiler. As we discussed last month,
the pipe can carry 40,000 BTUs doesn’t mean the heat loss for that zone is actually 40,000, nor does it not mean there is 40,000 of radiation on that zone. So, while using pipe size as a BTU guide helps, it’s not as accurate as using a room-by room heat loss calculation.
Option 3
I call this the “Radiation Ratio Programing”. It provides less fuel savings than Option 2, but is still better than factory programing.
Again, in this example, the job doesn’t have a heat loss done prior to the installation. Each zone is a percentage of the total amount of radiation in the home. If we calculate the amount of zone radiation in regard to the total radiation of the home, we can determine the percentage of the boiler input per zone. This number allows us to program the zone on the Sage Zone Control.
Let’s say Zone 1 has 45 feet of radiation and the total radiation in the home is 180 feet. Use this formula: Amount zone radiation/Amount entire home radiation = Percentage of input.
In our example, it looks like this: 45’/180’ = 0.25 This would be 25%. Let’s assume the boiler is an ALP105 which is 105,000 BTU input.
Saving Your Customer Even More $$$... Easily
– Continues, see “SZC”, page 8
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– Continues, see “Firetube”, page 6
Fruita Colorado lies in a valley between two mountain ranges known for their bizarre rock formations. Just a few miles east of the Utah border, and even fewer miles from the Colorado National Monument to the southeast, Fruita and its neighboring town of Grand Junction look like they were dropped on the face of Mars.
Among the rocky outcroppings and giant red monoliths is a unique, free-standing tower known as Independence Monument. Chris McLauhlin, lead installation tech for Coppersmith Plumbing Company knows just where to catch a glimpse of 450-foot rock formation when he’s driving on Rt. 6, just like he did in late July.
Chris was headed from the Coppersmith shop in Grand Junction to a boiler retrofit job in Fruita. This was like any one of the hundreds of boilers he’s installed since joining the company 16 years ago, except for one thing.
“I really wanted to try out a new fire-tube boiler,” sad McLaughlin. “I’ve installed a few fire-tubes from two or three different manufacturers over the years, but we install mostly Burnham brand equipment. So when I learned that U.S. Boiler had just introduced a new K2 fire-tube, I got my hands on one as quick as I could.”
For roughly as long as they’ve been installing Burnham brand products, Coppersmith’s first call when it comes to boiler questions if McCoy Sales. Salesmen Mark Doyle and Tim Lindstrom are eager to help if a need arises.
Test driveCoppersmith has been in business since 1995 and serves western Colorado with eight technicians. Owner Frank Frigetto founded the plumbing and heating business after 14 years in the trade. Born from a passion for the craft, the company’s name and logo are reminiscent of times when everything was hand-forged
and built to last. And if you ask around, their reputation matches the image.
They do a wide variety of work, from low-income housing to $5 Million dollar, multi-boiler applications. Hydronic installations usually include Burnham cast-iron or Alpine condensing boilers. Over the past year though, some of the work has included K2 models. Regardless of whether they’re buying cast iron or stainless models, product comes through Grand Junction Winsupply. Branch President, Rick Thatcher has been McCoy’s most loyal distributor in Western Colorado.
Coming up this fall, a big boiler replacement project at a townhome property in Aspen, CO, will hopefully keep Coppersmith busy for a few weeks. They’re bidding the 40-boiler retrofit right now. So McLaughlin wanted to use the single-family retrofit in Fruita to try out the K2 Firetube, hoping to use it later in Aspen.
The 95% AFUE K2 Firetube has a dimpled, stainless steel vertical firetube heat exchanger and is available in six sizes from 85-270 MBH. A 155-MBH combi version is also available.
Coppersmith installed all the hydronic systems at the retirement community in Fruita 11 years ago, so they are usually called when homeowners want a new boiler.
A Firetube below Independence Monument
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–“Firetube”, continued I was concerned about it. I’ve never had a Burnham do something it’s not supposed to do. And reading the manual definitely beat trying to decipher the Korean-English I&O manuals that come with the cheap fire-tubes.”
McLaughing noted another thing that separated the K2 Firetube from other boilers, too.
“The condensate drain is solid,” he said. “I like it more than Alpine’s drain, and maybe even more than the one on the K2 Watertube.”
By the end of the first day, the boiler was fired.
On to the next one, or 40“I went back to the home the next day to clean up wires and walk the owner through his new system,” said McLaughlin. “It was a really quick install, and with a second guy it could’ve easily been done in one day flat.”
The boiler proved to be easier to install than he had expected, though a few other things
made it a fast process too. Venting was easy because
boiler was a big advantage. He piped the natural gas line to the underside of the unit with an inch or two to spare, and connected the primary-secondary piping on top. A new 45-gallon indirect tank, set to priority, pulls a fourth zone off the secondary piping.
“Even by myself, everything installed smoothly except for the outdoor reset,” said McLaughlin. “The layout of these houses makes it tough to fish the wire where I want it. I’ll be ordering the wireless ODR kit next time we’re called to this neighborhood.”
A superior fire-tubeFrom his experience with other fire-tube boilers, McLaughin was expecting the controls to be cumbersome. After setting the warm-weather shutdown to 68°F, he realized that the interface was very similar to the intuitive controls on the Alpine, which he has in his own home. The biggest difference is that the touchscreen control is tilted up for easier viewing.
“I’ve had all sorts of electrical problems with other fire-tubes, so I was a bit concerned at first,” he said. “But I don’t know why
“This neighborhood is a retirement community where we installed all the boilers and plumbing 11 years ago,” he explained. “At the time, we were using one of the very first condensing boilers to hit the market. This call was the third we’ve received to replace a boiler.”
In actuality, the homeowner just wanted Coppersmith to fix his boiler, which he’d been tinkering with on his own, after buying parts online. As soon as the owner learned that it would cost almost as much to fix it as it would to replace it with a new, stainless steel boiler, he wanted a new one for the 1,800 square-foot home. The very next day, McLaughlin passed Independence Monument again on his way to demo the old boiler and remove the old 40-gallon indirect tank.
The old, natural gas system was stuffed under a flight of steps in the garage, feeding three zones of fin-tube baseboard. Working alone, McLaughlin quickly learned that space constraints weren’t an issue for the 85 MBH K2 Firetube. The ability to pipe the supply and return out of either the top or bottom of the
the original boiler was a high-efficiency model. And the original zone vales and air strainer were left in place to help keep the cost as low as possible.
The installation in Fruita showed Coppersmith what they were hoping to learn: Whether or not the K2 Firetube would a good choice for the row-homes in Aspen. The jobs are very similar, with well-constructed houses that don’t offer much mechanical space. The main differences in Aspen are the radiation and the altitude: Instead of fin-tube, the row homes use fan coils. And where Fruita lies at 4,500 feet above sea level, requiring a 4% input derate, Aspen rests at about 8,000.
“There’s no doubt that the K2 is my favorite fire-tube on the market,” said McLaughlin. “It might be too soon to decide if I like it more than the Alpine, but that’s the way it’s looking. With any luck, I’ll know the answer to that after we install 40 of them in Aspen this fall.”
ANYWHEREUNMATCHED
The K2 Firetube can be piped from either the top or the bottom of the unit, a big advantage when installing in small mechanical rooms. Chris McLaughlin installed the new, 85 MBH K2 Firetube by himself in less than two full days.
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With the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in full swing, it’s amazing to consider that more than 10,000 of the world’ finest athletes have descended upon Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for a shot at the Gold.
Among the crowd of competitors are members of Team USA: Weightlifting, including women Jenny Arthur, Morghan King and Sarah Robles, as well as men, Kendrick Farris and Travis Cooper. They’ll be battling it out with the strongest weightlifters from across the globe. But whether or not the many weightlifting competitors in Rio know it or not, their sport owes a lot to the US oil burner industry.
Yes, you read that correctly. To a great extent, the roots of Olympic weightlifting and the sport - as an organized, competitive hobby - got a huge boost from the success of the oil industry in the US, and one ingenious young entrepreneur that followed his passion. The same goes for related pursuits, such as bodybuilding, powerlifting and strongman. In the early 1900s, lines between these sports hadn’t yet been clearly defined. As a matter of fact, saying that the entire fitness and nutrition industry benefitted from the oil industry wouldn’t be much of a stretch.
This meandering story begins early 19th century, in York, PA, just down the road from U.S. Boiler Company, in Lancaster. York was –
and to a large degree still is - an industrial hub. Among the steel companies and heavy equipment manufacturers, York Oil Burner Company opened its doors 1919, and thrived right through the Great Depression.
The company’s co-founder, Bob Hoffman, developed an interest in weightlifting when he was young. As a child, a bout with typhoid fever left him skinny and weak, and he found that weight training reversed the effects of the sickness. With the oil burner business in full swing, he began fabricating his own rudimentary weights in the company’s shop.
As his dedication, knowledge and strength grew, Hoffman organized the very first American weightlifting competition in 1924. Five years later, as national interest in the sport was on the rise, Hoffman began commercially manufacturing barbells in his factory. In 1931, he started the York Oil Burner Athletic Club, which would eventually become a legendary Olympic weightlifting team.
By 1932, Hoffman had turned his attention entirely to producing athletic equipment and mentoring his young team of athletes. He recruited promising weightlifters from across the country to join his club and work for his company. The success of famous American weightlifters, like Tommy Kono and John Grimek, is due in large part to Hoffman’s guidance and support.
Eventually, the York Oil Burner Athletic Club became the York Barbell Club.
For the next 30 years, this club went on to dominate weight lifting and bodybuilding competitions. They clinched more than 40 national championships, with Hoffman himself amassing hundreds of awards.
Hoffman also published magazines and books, and produced a line of dietary supplements in addition to York Barbell equipment. Through coaching, funding and promotion, Hoffman supported the US Olympic Weightlifting Team for more than 20 years.
The gold medals that returned home with competitors are proof of Hoffman’s dedication to the sport. The International Weightlifting Federation officially recognizes Bob Hoffman as “The Father of World Weightlifting”, for his pioneering efforts in development of equipment, technique and sports nutrition.
Some of the original equipment and early photographs can be seen in the official Weightlifting Hall of Fame, located within York Barbell Company’s headquarters, in York.
Outside the museum, an oversized bronze statue of Hoffman greets visitors and passersby on Interstate 83. A section of the museum is dedicated to Hoffman, while a walk-through of the entire facility displays information about bodybuilders and mind-bending feats of strength performed by strongmen and powerlifters. The building, when viewed from above, is shaped like a giant “Y” and still houses lifting competitions in a 200-seat auditorium.
If you’re ever headed through Southcentral Pennsylvania, and have a spare hour to spend in “Muscletown, USA” – as York has been called – consider stopping at the Hall of Fame. Admittance is free, and it’s sure to entertain.
Oil Burners and Olympic Barbells
(R) A statue of Bob Hoffman outside York Barbell. (L) Many of the members of Hoffman’s club also worked for York Barbell.
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The U.S. Boiler Report is a monthly publication produced by Delta C, LLCin conjunction with U.S. Boiler Company. For inquiries or additional information regarding article submissions, please contact:Dan Vastyan (Delta C): 717-587-9595Mike Hook (U.S. Boiler): 717-397-4701
©2016 U.S. Boiler Co.
www.usboiler.netDistributor Line: 866-659-3927Tech Line: 866-684-1463
–“SZC”, continued
Now you use this formula: Boiler input x Percentage of input (answer from last formula as a decimal).
105,000 (boiler size) x .25 = 26,250 BTUs. This amount is programed into the boiler display for Zone 1.
Note: using 4 decimal places will improve the accuracy.
I must add an explanation of factory programing on controls. All factory programing that US Boiler does on our controls includes parameters that are set to work in most applications to heat the home. Taking the time to determine and change the parameters will increase the fuel savings. The parameters that will save the most fuel are the SZC parameters, OD reset parameters and matching the DHW BTU input to match the IWH installed on the job site.
Ron Beck is Outside Technical Advisor and Manager of Training for U.S. Boiler Company, where he’s been since 1998. Ron’s 34 years of experience in the heating industry include climbing the ranks of a HVAC company, from apprentice to service manager. Ron can be reached at:
range of expectations, including those customers who appreciate or even demand environmental services as part of their home renovations.
It usually costs $25 to participate in TRC’s program, but readers of US Boiler Report can participate for free as long as they mention this article while signing up!
Signing up is easy. Before you ask, yes, it is far easier than stacking twenty
full-grown polar bears on top of one another. TRC has a website with a quick sign-up form, or the lovely customer service employee at the office is always available to pick up the phone and sign up locations directly to spare customers the effort.
The Thermostat Recycling Corporation can be reached through its website, www.thermostat-recycle.org, by email, [email protected], or by phone, 1-888-266-0550. If you visit the website, don’t be alarmed by the pictures of children holding chainsaws on our
front page – we’ll tell you that story some other time.
If nothing else, always remember: Recycle every mercury thermostat, every time.
Piper Mlsna is an Outreach Specialist for the Thermostat Recycling Corporation. A graduate of Michigan State University with a degree in Environmental Policy, she writes blogs for TRC’s website and gives presentations about mercury thermostat recycling.
–Mercury”, continued
Sage Zone Control Circulator Panel
In most heating systems, standalone condensing boilers don’t condense all the time. They operate at higher temperatures than necessary, and use more fuel than they need to.
Designed to optimize Sage2.2-equipped Alpine, K2-WT, and K2-FT condensing boilers, the Sage Zone Control Circulator Panel calculates heating demand from different zones and “re-sizes” high efficiency, condensing boilers for optimum efficiency.
The Sage Zone Control comes pre-programmed with HeatMatch
Software that calculates zone demand, measures supply water tem-perature, and automatically adjusts maximum firing rates starting at low fire. Ultimately, this helps reduce boiler “short cylcing” to extend the life of the heating system. Further-more, advanced freeze protection monitors individual zone activity during freezing temperatures. The user-friendly touch screen display, located on the boiler, allows you to quickly make adjustments and monitor BTUs and cycle history. Plus, it’s easy to setup! Simply use the snap-in RJ45 cable to eliminate labor for boiler wiring. No high voltage (120V) wire prep needed for domestic hot water priority.
Have you tried our Sage Zone Control Panel, yet?
Click the link to learn more!
http://www.usboiler.net/control-sys-tem/sage-zone-control-circulator-panel
The key to making a condensing boiler actually condense
