Commercial boiler retrofits By Rob Marchiori, President of Ram Mechanical Ltd.
One of two recent boiler installations that Ram Mechanical has recently completed. The boilers at Landmark Belvedere Apartments in Vancouver are three Viessmann Vitoden 200s with a total plant capacity of 1,110 MBH.
There are a number of reasons to consider retrofitting an existing commercial boiler. The equipment may be at the end of its service life, the maintenance costs may be getting too high, or the potential savings in fuel with a more modern sys-
tem are all good reasons. Regardless of the reason you have decided to retrofit your boiler, you will want to source out mechanical contractors who specialize in commercial boiler retrofits. Not all plumbing, heating or me-
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chanical contractors are certified and experienced in this type of installation, however. In British Columbia, commercial installations require companies to be certified by the B.C. Safety Authority to carry out these installations. As well, there is likely to be more than one inspection agency to deal with; that is to say that most installations require not only a boiler or pressure vessel permit, but also a gas permit, or plumbing permit and an electrical permit. You may also be required to obtain a seismic engineer’s report, a chemical engineer’s report, and a commissioning report. When looking for an appropriate contractor, ask for proof of their experience, as well as references. Contractor associations, such as the Mechanical Contractors’ Association, are a good place to find the right companies. The local or provincial authorities can provide information on which companies are certified to carry out commercial boiler retrofits. Once you have identified qualified contractors, you will want to get proposals from them. However, there are a number of different types of boilers, as well as heating systems, in today’s market and proposals can be vastly different. As with most retail items, purchasing the cheapest product is not necessarily the best option. What you are looking for is to get the best value from your heating system. To get the best value, you will want to be asking some key questions – specifically, you will want to analyze the payback from a new system. It is assumed that older heating equipment is not as efficient as new heating equipment. Therefore, there should be savings to be realized in fuel consumption. The variable is in how many years
