By Ed Zobrist, AAGLA Member, ENOVATIVE KONTROL SYSTEMS

DOES THIS SOUND LIKE YOUR BUILDING?

In our buildings, there is an area we rarely visit.  Yet, in that area there is an opportunity to literally put thousands of dollars per year in our pockets – instead of the pockets of our friendly utility providers. For a limited time, under the On Demand Efficiency (ODE) rebate program, a product is being offered for free that will return to us thousands of dollars annually. By lowering our natural gas bills, electricity expenses, and on-going plumbing repair and maintenance costs, the D’MAND CIRC® system is the most cost- effective building enhancement on the market. 

According to the California Energy Commission (CEC), out of every $1,000 we spend on energy for hot water, $400 is wasted at the heater and another $300 is wasted distributing the hot water throughout the building. These dollars literally go down the drain before a single drop of water pours from your tenant’s tap or the laundry appliance. 

What’s wrong with this picture?

Let’s take a trip to your hot water room.  The first item that catches our eye is the boiler/hot water tank.  I’ll bet that the burner is on or will turn on in a few minutes. Since we are visiting during a weekday, let’s assume that most of our tenants are away at work. Why is the gas burner turning on when there are only a few people at home? 

If our burner and circulation pump are controlled by an intelligent system, they only come on when needed. This excessive burning of natural gas to heat water no one is using, according to the CEC, represents $400 of the $700 in wasted energy per year.

What is the other $300 in wasted energy costs?  Adjacent to the hot water tank is a small electrically driven pump. You don’t have to wait for it to turn on. It’s running as we speak. Guess when it will stop? NEVER? You’re paying for the electricity to run the pump non-stop from the date you bought your building. Does this pump need to run continuously? Not anymore. 

This is wasting $300 out of every $1,000 we spend for hot water each year. This pump’s job is to keep a continuous flow of hot water to each of our units through a recirculation hot water pipe, a distribution loop. As freshly heated hot water is pumped out from the burner to the units, the cooled water in the pipes returns to the burner to be re-heated and sent back out. This is a never-ending process. 

Why are we paying a lot of money to circulate hot water to all of our tenants, regardless of whether they’re home? 

THERE IS A BETTER WAY

Thanks to the CEC, the word is getting out.  Out of 6-million multifamily buildings in Los Angeles County, 2,000 have installed state-of-the-art, no maintenance systems reducing annual energy consumption by thousands of dollars per year, depending on a building’s size. 

THE SOLUTION

Demand-controlled technology, or “smart” systems only activate when there is a need for a pump’s services. The typical, continuous circulation pump is replaced with an almost identical sized pump that easily retrofits to universal flanges.  

The critical difference is the D’MAND CIRC® pump uses a temperature sensor placed on the hot water return line in the loop that delivers cooled water to the burner for reheating.  Another sensor, called a flow sensor, is placed on the hot water line as it leaves the hot water tank. 

These two sensors make decisions by sending electronic signals to the recirculation pump.  Instead of the pump running continuously, it only operates when a combination of factors occurs. In the case of the temperature sensor, the pump comes on only when the hot water in the recirculation loop has fallen below a preset temperature and the flow sensor has signaled that someone has opened a hot water tap. 

Otherwise, the pump remains off, generating significant savings in natural gas and electricity. One ensures hot water is kept available in the loop while the other ensures fresh hot water is available to all tenants within seconds of turning on the hot water tap.

This system typically saves up to 10-30% off water heating costs.

The system includes a brand new circulation pump, comes with a 5-year warranty and is being offered for free through the ODE utility rebate program.  Take advantage of this incredible deal. Even when it is sold at retail for $1,600, it is amortized in less than two years for most buildings, making it extremely cost effective.

After recouping this small investment, the money saved stays in your pocket.  It usually installs in less than two hours and has a life expectancy of over 15 years. This system is designed by an L.A.-based company dedicated to assisting multifamily building owners (like you and me) reduce energy consumption through simple, innovative, cost-effective solutions and smart designs

For more information, go to www.enovativegroup.com or call 714-580-8150 or 805-453-6635.