When Bright Power was called in to do an energy audit at this 28,000-square-foot Tribeca apartment building, it was clear that the old steam boiler was well past its prime.  It was a huge, oil-fired beast from the early 20th century, apparently converted from coal. We got to work on specifications for a new heating system. In the course of measuring the radiators and the piping to properly size the new boiler, we discovered:

• a second, large steam main that was not feeding any radiators and was wasting heat into the basement,
• a steam leak from a rusted pipe in the basement ceiling,
• as well as unnecessary steam traps on one-pipe steam return lines.

We specified:

• a new gas-fired boiler, properly sized to the heat load of the building, that was much smaller than its predecessor,
• a higher efficiency power burner with 2 firing stages,
• a new boiler control, and
• several piping fixes, such as the removal of unnecessary steam traps and disconnection of unused basement pipes.

Results: We projected a 30% savings in heating costs, but the results were much more dramatic.  After the new equipment's first heating season, heating costs had dropped 67% from $40,000/year for heating oil to around $13,000 for natural gas; from $1.80/sqft to $0.52/sqft. The amount of energy used to heat the building dropped from 76 kBTU/sqft/yr to 33 kBTU/sqft/yr. The system is for heating only; domestic hot water is supplied by in-unit, electric  water heaters. In addition to the environmental benefits from burning clean natural gas and using less overall energy, the new boiler will pay for itself in less than four years!