Superior Radiant Products Help Lower Utility Costs at Voyageur Elementary School

Superior Radiant Products help lower utility costs at Voyageur Elementary School with “Even Heat” Infrared that increases comfort

Rod Grimm, manager of operations for Quesnel School District, knew he was on to something when a oneroom infrared heating retrofit at a high school turned the school’s leastfavorite basement classroom into its most sought-after space. It wasn’t the teacher that was suddenly so popular—it was the heat! What was once a dank, cold classroom had become toasty warm and welcoming. Following this and a couple of other small retrofits in other Quesnel schools, Grimm was eager to apply infrared heaters to an entire facility.

When funds became available to upgrade the aging heating system at Voyageur Elementary, Grimm again turned to Superior Radiant Products (SRP) for the solution.

Low clearances and two-stage burners were the key factors that led Grimm to choose SRP for the Voyageur retrofit. With a classroom ceiling height of nine feet, Voyageur Elementary School needed an infrared heater with a clearance of 32 inches. Also, the availability of twostage tube heaters made SRP an appealing choice. SRP’s two-stage, or Hi-Low output capability, allows a quicker recovery at high fire and an economical, steady operation at low fire. This was especially important, since Voyageur would also be adding a new ventilation system that would increase the school’s heating load.

TIME FOR CHANGE

The 35-year-old Voyageur Ele mentary School was due for some comfort and Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) upgrades. The existing heating system relied on a variety of equipment, including a 12-zone system utilizing an old gas-fired furnace— long overdue for replacement. With the exception of just a few high-efficiency furnaces, which had been added over the years, most of the school relied on old, inefficient equipment. Teacher complaints about the heating were commonplace. Fresh, make-up air was imparted the old fashioned way—by the opening and closing of exterior doors. Needless to say, Voyageur had some catching up to do to bring it up to 21st-century standards. The question was, could it be done without major increases to utility costs?

A total of seven existing furn aces were removed from Voyageur Elementary School, including four high-efficiency furnaces, the multizone furnace (used for classroom, office and library heating), one large downflow furnace that heated the gym, and one high-efficiency furnace for the kindergarten spaces. Much of the existing ductwork was left in place, providing the framework for heat recovery ventilation in the classrooms, gym, office and staff areas. With the exception of the office and staff room locations, there was no post heat in any of the heat recovery units.

A total of 18 natural gas-fired SRP infrared tube heaters were installed to replace the existing furnaces. These heaters, all of which were twostage, would become the sole source of heat for their associated spaces. The only exception to this was the post heat, which was applied to the

Quantity Model Rate (High) BTU/Hr (Low) Length Location 6 LMA 60,000 40,000 30 ft Classrooms 2 LMA 30,000 30,000 30 ft Library 4 LMA 60,000 40,000 30 ft Classrooms 4 LMA 60,000 40,000 30 ft Gymnasium 1 LMA 80,000 60,000 40 ft Kindergarten 1 TA 40,000 30,000 15 ft Main entrance

Table 1

Voyageur Elementary School Oct '07 - Mar '08 Oct '08 - Mar '09

Average Temperature

Heating Degree Days 27 0F / -3 0C 25 0F / -4 0C 7022 7220

Table 2

Quesnel, British Columbia Oct '07 - Mar '08 Oct '08 - Mar '09

Electrical Consumption (Kw) 68,720 61,600

Gas Consumption (GJ) 957.7 838.7

heat recovery unit for the office and staff areas. Thus, the primary source of heat for the entire school would be infrared heaters (see Chart 1).

COMFORT AND IAQ—FOR LESS!

Installation of the heaters was completed before school started in September 2008, in time for what would become one of the coldest B.C. winters in recent years. The heat recovery ventilators were up and running by January 2009.

Remarkably, Voyageur Elementary has seen a decrease in both electrical and gas consumption since the new system was installed. This is despite: 1.) the increase in load due to the new ventilation system, 2.) a higher number of heating degree days in 2008/2009, and 3.) an increase in the average price of natural gas per gigajoule (GJ) from $5.73 (Oct. ‘07 - Jan. ‘08) to $6.23 per GJ (Oct. ‘08 Jan. ‘09) (see Tables 1 and 2) .

“Installation costs of infrared heating systems are a fraction of more con-

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1-888-432-1123 www.belfor.com ventional systems,” says Grimm. “In a similarly-sized school as Voyageur, we had a boiler system installed for an HVAC upgrade in 2001 for $425,000.00. The radiant tube system at Voyageur cost $150,000.00, and maintenance on the tube heaters is practically zero.”

Just as importantly, comfort is way up at this older school where teachers and students have had to contend with drafty or overly-heated rooms for many years. The even heat distribution, characteristic of SRP heaters, has especially been a hit with kindergarteners returning from a chilly outdoor recess. This is largely due to the “softening” of the radiant output over a much longer length of tube than what other manufacturers can supply. The end result is a very mild, consistent heat, making it a luxurious choice in colder climates like B.C., where wintertime temperatures well below zero are common. Another advantage is the system requires no morning warm-up cycle; heat is practically instantaneous.

“We found that the kids and teachers just love it,” Grimm says, adding that the superior comfort has enabled them to actually lower the set points in most rooms to one to one-and-a-half degrees below what had been normal. A DDC system at the elementary school allows him to observe system activity at all times, and has shown that temperatures are being maintained to within as close as one-tenth a degree. Not bad for a system that is costing the school district less to operate!

Superior Radiant Products has been promoting green building technology long before the term was coined. In fact, the founding partners chose “radiant only” technology because they could build one of the world’s finest infrared heaters, and infrared heating was the most efficient use of precious, non-renewable energy resources.

SRP is proud to have been the manufacturer of choice for the Voyageur Elementary School project. SRP hopes it will demonstrate to other refits the efficiencies and savings associated with SRP’s fine products.