The Heat Exchange

Turndown has been a trending topic in the boiler industry for many years but is it as important as we think?

What is boiler turndown? Boiler turndown is the ratio that a boiler can fire at full capacity to its lowest firing rate before the system shuts down. For example, if a boiler is a 1 million BTU boiler that can fire as low as 250,000 BTUs, then the boiler has a 4:1 turndown ratio.

Boiler turndown certainly has an effect on efficiency, but for each application that effect could be different. There are three major elements that are impacted by a boiler’s turndown; boiler loads, operating cycles, and overall efficiency.

It’s that time of year again… time to think about a system shutdown for your cast iron, fire tube or water tube boiler. Maybe your system requires corrective or preventive maintenance, or perhaps you take your system offline for the summer. Either way, we can offer solutions that keep your boiler at peak efficiencies.

Boiler industry professionals know there are two primary sources of fuel in the commercial market: natural gas and oil. Over the last decade there has been a large increase in natural gas conversions around the country due to the drop in natural gas costs because of fracking and greater distribution. For the last few years, the price of natural gas was significantly lower than its counterpart, but the cost of oil has become more and more competitive with natural gas. This has resulted in organizations questioning the benefits of converting to the use of natural gas only.

Constellation, an Exelon company, recently teamed with The Wilkinson Companies to help customers effectively manage their energy and efficiency needs. For many businesses, energy is one of the top five expenses affecting bottom lines. It can be challenging however to effectively manage usage, identify the right efficiency upgrades, and find the best payment structure for executing projects. That’s why Constellation created Efficiency Made Easy® (EME) – a solution that can play an integral role in achieving a customer’s strategic financial and environmental goals.

Here are the Top 5 Reasons to rent a mobile boiler from Wilkinson:

5. We’ve got you covered. When it comes to mobile boiler rental, we have the largest fleet of mobile boilers in New England and we offer 24/7 emergency service.

Spring is in the air and that means it’s time to schedule an annual cleaning for your facility’s fire tube or cast iron boiler. Keeping on top of maintenance each year ensures that your boiler is running properly and safely. When your boiler is running efficiently, it also means you are saving money and have less emissions.

Watch a brief clip of a mobile boiler from the Wilkinson Companies provide steam to help launch a barge for Senesco Marine. Visit the Boiler Room Insider and click Senesco Marine.

As an organization, it is essential to have a contingency plan. If there is ever a crisis, it’s in your best interest to develop an organized plan to keep your business operating smoothly.

With warmer weather on the way, now is the perfect time to make your plan. By the time the harsh winter rolls around again, you will be ready!

During the cold winter months, heating your facility should be one of your top priorities. Whether or not your facility experienced issues with heating in the past, it is advised for your business to expect the unexpected.

Traditional firetube, watertube or cast iron boiler systems rely on mechanical linkages to control the fuel/air ratio of the burner just like vehicle manufacturers used linkages on carburetors up until the late 1980’s.  Similar to the automotive carburetor, linkage systems on boilers are extremely outdated technology. The problem is that linkages get out of calibration, begin to slip and can only control a narrow range of functions on a boiler based on a few inputs. This is typically due to repeated operation and ever changing environmental conditions, much like we are used to in the Northeast.

In the Northeast, we have the luxury of experiencing all four seasons which of course includes our bitter winters.  During the winter, it is everyone’s nightmare to lose heat, especially if you manage or own a building.  State laws ensure that all tenant buildings are required to provide heat or a minimum temperature setting for a specified period of time during the year.  What happens if you lose heat due to a catastrophic failure of your heating system?  The best and easiest solution would be to have a mobile boiler delivered onsite to provide temporary heat and/or hot water while the issue that caused the failure is appropriately handled.