Building owners are already getting some heating bills that are already a bit higher than they would like and according to most, this is going to continue.  Add to that record high fuel prices and some may be regretting not upgrading their boiler management systems soon.

The good news is that advanced heating controls from Heat-Timer® are designed to integrate easily, without wires, into existing buildings in hours, not days. Both small and large building owners can take advantage of the easy installation of either the Genesis, or Platinum  Heat-Timer® heating controls. With such a simple installation it is easy to get up and running, allowing you to save up to 30% on fuel costs for the rest of the winter and every year to come.

In the 5 New York City boroughs there are literally thousands of multi-family dwellings housing millions of residents. Many of those buildings are on the smaller side, housing anywhere from 2 to 20 families. And the vast majority of those were built more than 50 years ago, using single steam or hot water boilers to heat radiators with piping, wiring, and risers buried long ago inside the walls of these buildings.
 
Building owners looking to modernize their heating systems to save on fuel, were often put off by the cost of recommended upgrades, especially when construction costs were factored in. Even heating control and thermostat solutions sometimes required running wires through multiple floors down to the
boiler room, when existing wiring could not support modern device interface requirements, or the wiring simply wasn’t where it needed it to be.

Genesis Was Made For This.

The key to achieving the level of comfort and savings that Heat-Timer Genesis® does, is its use of our proprietary wireless space sensors. By reporting space temperatures in key areas of the building identified by your heating technician, the self-learning algorithms of Heat-Timer Genesis® can actually learn the heating characteristics of your building.

And since the space sensors are wireless and boast extended range, they can simply be hung on a wall inside an apartment and the signal will reach through up to 10 floors to report to the Heat-Timer Genesis® unit. No running wires or setting up wireless repeaters. The sensors don’t even need to be plugged in, they run on two AA batteries and last for 10+ years.

Heat-Timer Genesis® – An Easy Button for Fuel Savings and Installation

Small apartment building owners can finally make an investment in improving their heating systems that doesn’t require them to have a PHD in HVAC, or take out a second mortgage or rip up their beautiful old building. The Heat-Timer Genesis® was made for you.

For the larger buildings of 20 units or more we recommend our tried and true Platinum Heating Controls. The same ease of installation applies to the Platinum controls where wireless sensors make integration into existing buildings a snap. Plus you have internet access anywhere, self learning algorithms that anticipate the unique thermal loss characteristics of your building, Real time alerts, Use with Steam or Hot Water Boilers and fuel savings up to 30%
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For ordering information, give us a call or visit our website to learn more: https://www.heat-timer.com/the-genesis/
 
The original blog is available on - https://www.heat-timer.com/heat-timer-easy-to-install-heating-controls/

The graying of residential buildings is a very real problem for building owners, especially in older US cities like New York and Boston. In fact, in a recent study published using data from NYC’s PLUTO database, one can determine that the median age of a surviving residential building in greater NYC is over 90 years old!

As initiatives like Local Law 97 and other go-green rebate programs drive upgrades and updates to heating system infrastructure,the other frontier in the upgrade of these buildings has to do with their solutions to domestic hot water and the ever increasing difficulty of delivering consistent, and safe hot water to residents. With the dramatic increase in reported cases of deadly legionella bacteria in the water supply across the country (including recent outbreaks in NYC) the pressure is on for building owners to provide updated solutions that satisfy city regulations for safety, provide safe, consistent temperatures to folks at their sinks and showers, and do it as efficiently as possible.

Common Problems with Domestic Hot Water Systems in Older Buildings.

At the end of the day, the net problem is getting reliable hot water to residents safely, at all hours of the day. Especially so called rush hours, when demand for showers and such is high. Yet age and other factors conspire to keep older DHW systems from maintaining their operational readiness.

1. Leaky Storage tanks. – Every tank has a shelf life of 15 – 30 years.
2. System Sizing – Changes to apartment layout, resident count and increases in peak demand over many decades, can tax an existing system not designed for it resulting in frequent rebuilds of the light-commercial gas water heater originally spec’d. These rebuilds are expensive and wholly unnecessary in a properly sized system.
3. Dissolved Mineral Content – Hard water supplies with high mineral content can tax piping and valves leading to expensive periodic rebuilds or replacements that take down hot water for the entire building.
4. Temperature Creep – Older thermostatic mixers can fail in such a way as to prevent mixing during dormant periods, such as overnight. In these cases, the first hot water users in the morning can find the hot water initially arriving at the sink or shower to be almost 160 degrees Fahrenheit, a temperature that can cause burns and scalding in a matter of seconds. These mixers then have to be rebuilt causing more expense and downtime not to mention potential lawsuits.
   
   

Heat-Timer® ETS is a Key Part of the Modern Solution to DHW Upgrades

Whatever heating technology your domestic hot water solution employs, a good heating design engineer will specify a DHW system designed for reliability, efficiency, serviceability and longevity. In 2022 with outbreaks of legionella on everyone’s mind, we must also add Safety to that list.

One key part of this upgrade is an electronic mixing valve like the Heat-Timer® Electronic Tempering Valve to finally deliver perfectly regulated hot water to residents. Heat-Timer® encapsulates this system into our Electronic Tempering Station (ETS) which is a pre-plumbed, small footprint assembly saving installers hours and hours of time doing installation, and limiting overall install downtime. The internal ETV control module uses remote sensors tied to proprietary algorithms to electronically control one of the industry’s most durable 3-way stainless steel mixing valves. The Heat-Timer® ETS can deliver an adjustable domestic hot water temperature to the end user, under any condition allowing hot water to be stored at a temperature that kills bacteria, while providing perfectly safe temperatures to users at the sink.

As most NYC apartment owners and managers know, the City of New York enacted Local Law 97 (LL97) in 2019 as a part of the Climate Mobilization Act. This forward looking law places carbon caps on most buildings larger than 25,000 square feet—roughly 50,000 residential and commercial properties across NYC. These caps start in 2024 and will become more stringent over time, eventually reducing carbon emissions 80 percent by 2050.

Heat-Timer® has been actively involved in the discussion around LL97 and has provided assistance to hundreds of NYC building owners as they plan for compliance to the law and seek to avoid increasing penalties for non-compliance.

Recent Local Law 97 Updates 

The rules around NYC local law 97 are complex and reflect a timetable that allows building owners time to get their properties analyzed and solutions proposed and budgeted. On October 6, 2022, the NYC Department of Buildings released a new document called Proposed Rules for Local Law 97 that answers and clarifies more questions about the law’s requirements through 2050. 

Here are a few key take-away’s from the update, which building owners need to know.

1. 60 NEW PROPERTY TYPES ADDED FROM EPA’S PORTFOLIO MANAGER

The EPA’s Portfolio Manager, is the well-established tool for tracking building energy use. LL97 originally set 10 emissions limits based on Building Code occupancy group classifications. The proposed rules expand those categories based on Portfolio Manager, which includes dozens of different property types that more accurately reflect the variation in energy use among buildings. 

2. UILDING EMISSIONS LIMITS SET FOR ALL PROPERTY TYPES TO 2050 AND BEYOND

The proposed rules assign new emissions limits for each new property type from 2030 through 2049. From 2050 onward, a zero emissions requirement applies to all property types—a move that aligns to global 1.5°C climate targets. For 2024 to 2029, the proposed rules preserve LL97’s original 10 emissions limits but distribute those limits across the 60 Portfolio Manager property types, creating better-tailored targets for all buildings.

3. A 2030 ELECTRICITY CARBON COEFFICIENT THAT REFLECTS THE GREENING GRID AND SUPPORTS ELECTRIFICATION

The electricity carbon coefficient is used to calculate the carbon content of the electricity that a building consumes each year. The proposed rules specify an electricity coefficient for 2030 to 2034 that is about 50 percent lower than the one that applies for 2024 to 2029. This change reflects major new clean energy coming to NYC in the next few years, bringing rapid decarbonization to reach New York State CLCPA targets. 

4. RECS CAN ONLY OFFSET EMISSIONS FROM ELECTRICITY USE

LL97 allows building owners to deduct or offset annual building emissions through the purchase of renewable energy credits (RECs) for local green power. The proposed rules clarify that these deductions are limited to emissions from building electricity use, which would ensure that credits for the purchase of green electricity aren’t used to offset fossil fuels burned onsite for heat and hot water.
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Heat-Timer® Can Help with LL97 Compliance

The Farmer’s Almanac is calling for a particularly cold winter, just as fuel prices are spiking and OPEC is cutting oil production. Overall, the winter of 2022 is shaping up to be an expensive heating season.

As building owners and HVAC professionals get their buildings ready for the heating season, dormant boilers are fired up and unexpected Startup problems arise all over.  HVAC professionals must be able to see when a Startup problem occurs in a building so that they can get on site and fix it quickly, then be able to move on to the next issue.  Buildings equipped with internet capable boiler management systems have an added level of convenience, thanks to all parts of their heating system operation being available and modifiable remotely.  BuildingNet® by Heat-Timer® is such a system, available as an ad-on to our Platinum Series Controls (large buildings), or included with our newest Heat-Timer Genesis® Controls (Small Buildings). 

Why is BuildingNet® a better boiler management software interface? 
To a user, the connection between a Heat-Timer® controller and the BuildingNet® web portal or mobile application is seamless.  BuildingNet’s highly reliable backend server software, running on a redundant network ensures 24/7 availability of control visibility. BuildingNet’s servers scale to support its customers reliably, even during the busiest time of the season. 

BuildingNet® also allows the creation of monitoring accounts which allow a boiler service and maintenance company to receive and respond to programmable alarms and service warnings. The non-proprietary and customizable nature of BuildingNet® allows the property manager to choose any service company or companies that are right for their needs, rather than be locked into a service contract like some other building management software solutions. 

BuildingNet® Organizes your entire Building Portfolio
BuildingNet® was designed from the ground up to scale easily and robustly from a single Heat-Timer® control to a portfolio of buildings with multiple controls and boiler rooms. BuildingNet® can be used for large property portfolios because their building addresses are organized in a clean hierarchy where data is presented by property address/control/data.

Other hierarchies exist within the BuldingNet® interface.  For instance our programmable alarm feature allows a tiered response to alarms.  With tiered alarms, a manager responsible for 5 apartment buildings in a complex will not receive every alarm from every building. The alarms will go first to the on-site technicians responsible, then to the technician’s supervisor. Only the alarms that are not answered after a set time period will be escalated to the designated manager.

Another way that BuildingNet® manages the complexity of a multi-building portfolio is its rich set of data analysis tools that allow building managers to spot trends and potential problems before they become emergencies.   The new alarm executive summary gives a daily summary of alarms, while the customizable report features in BuildingNet®, can give managers the ability to generate reports down to the sensor level, or create summary reports that show overall trends.  These reports can be configured to be emailed to their team at recurring intervals.
 
Different buildings need different controllers.  
The last reason that BuildingNet® works so well for a range of building sizes and types, is because Heat-Timer® offers the widest selection of boiler controllers in the industry.   Heat-Timer® has a Platinum series controller optimized for every type of boiler configuration, whether its hydronic or steam boilers, staging or modulating burners, single or multi-boiler configurations. And now with Heat-Timer® Genesis, we have the solution for the smaller buildings in your portfolio as well, all under the same BuildingNet® user interface.
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For more information visit https://heat-timer.com
This blog was originally published at https://www.heat-timer.com/internet-connectivity/

All indications are that we’re in for a snowy winter here in the Northeast. For those of us who want to preserve our aging backs and do something else with our precious time, driveway snow melt systems are the way to go. No need for shovelling or salt which discolors your walkway and gets tracked into the house, no waiting for the snow plow to arrive, just a beautiful, clear blacktop driveway. 
For property managers, you can add liability concerns to the list of reasons to get the walkways and parking lots cleared quickly. Even when it is not snowing, a property manager has to worry about those black ice patches in places where water accumulates. These ice patches can catch residents and customers unaware, and are a major source of slip and fall injuries.

Snowmelt Systems – An EZ Button for Snow Removal
Building managers who are tired of the snow have two technology choices for snow melting systems, electric resistance heating and hydronic heating.

Electric resistance heating is often selected for small installations, but it is limited by both the sheer amount of power needed from the building’s electrical system, and by the cost of electric heating.  It is expensive to heat a driveway electrically.  That is why many commercial installations with large outdoor areas to keep clear, choose boiler fed hydronic pavement heating.  A hydronic system can scale to almost any size, and can be heated either with a dedicated boiler, or from the main building boiler or boilers.

Snow Melting Uses less Energy with a Heat-Timer® Snow Melt Controller (SMC)
Heat-Timer®, the most experienced manufacturer of boiler control solutions, applies that same energy saving experience to hydronic snow melt systems.  The Heat-Timer Snow Melt controller (SMC) is designed specifically to control driveway heating with the same sophistication that Heat-Timer® applies to boiler heating controls.

The SMC (Snow Melt Controller) uses multiple sensors to keep the pavement snow and ice free with the minimum amount of energy.   The most important of these sensors is the embedded slab sensor. This robust sensor is embedded directly into the pavement and is tough enough for vehicle traffic. The sensor measures the pavement temperature to within 1° F and can detect the slightest precipitation or water on the slab. 
For retrofit installations the system is capable of functioning without the slab sensor, instead using an outdoor temperature sensor.  The Heat-Timer® SMC uses proven software designed to keep your walkways clear using the absolute minimum amount of energy.  Even if your snow melt system came with a controller, the Heat-Timer® SMC will pay for itself over time given how much additional money it saves.

Heat-Timer protects your investment too
The SMC not only protects your residents from falls from ice and snow, it also protects both the pavement and the boiler, by monitoring inlet and outlet temperatures of the heating loop to ensure that neither the slab or the boiler experience damaging thermal shock.

Like all Heat-Timer controllers, the SMC comes with basic alarms, and with the BACnet option, the SMC can be interfaced to a Building Management System, so that the property manager can monitor the status of snow clearing systems through a 3rd party building management system.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow. With the Heat-Timer® Snow Melt Control, you can finally enjoy it. Call us today for more information.
Or visit: https://www.heat-timer.com/ht_products/smc-snow-melt/
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This blog was originally published at https://www.heat-timer.com/a-better-driveway-snow-melt-control/

As word starts to get around about Heat-Timer® Genesis, we’re getting many questions about this revolutionary new technology for saving money on fuel in small buildings. Here’s answers to a few of the most common questions. For more detailed information, please feel free to call our team at (973) 575-4004

How many space sensors does Genesis come with?
The Genesis Control comes with three space sensors but can support up to 5.
How much can I expect to save in fuel consumption?
You can expect to save up to 30% on fuel usage.
How do I access the building my control is in?
The Genesis is fully mobile and internet enabled. You can access the control from any computer, tablet, or smartphone using our web portal or free mobile app.
Is the web and mobile experience the same as the one used for Heat-Timer® Platinum Controls?
Yes, the portal, the mobile app, and the alarms, emails, and text alerts and ability to monitor and control your boiler are the same.
How long will the sensor batteries last?
Battery life is over 10 years, thanks to use of the latest low power electronics.
Can the Genesis operate with Steam based Heating?
The Heat-Timer Genesis® Can operate perfectly on either steam or hot water, single boiler systems.

This blog was originally published at https://www.heat-timer.com/heat-timer-genesis-frequently-asked-questions/

For larger apartment and co-op buildings, Heat-Timer’s Platinum Series Boiler Controls have been the industry leading solution to saving energy for a long time.  Among HVAC professionals the phrase “Why don’t you install a Heat-Timer®” is both a general statement and a brand endorsement in discussions of energy efficiency and boiler room upgrades. 
Smaller apartment buildings of 20 units or less with forward thinking managers have also taken advantage of the Platinum series control.  For some, the cost of the world’s most effective heating control especially in colder climates, was justifiable when considering the money saved on utility bills every month, and the ease of remote monitoring and management that a fully internet enabled platinum control brings.

Right Sizing the Platinum Control for Small Buildings
It turns out that a lightweight version of our Platinum Internet Control is a huge win for small building owners.  With smaller up-front costs, return on investment (ROI) is greatly accelerated for small buildings of 20 units or less.
The Heat-Timer Genesis™ has several parts that make this investment a no-brainer for small building owners and managers:

1. Same cost savings potential as Platinum Series Controls – Our cutting-edge heating control software with its self-learning capabilities is built into the brain of the Genesis Heat-Timer ™ control.  Most small building owners can expect to save up to 30% on their monthly utility bills*.
   
   
2. Perfectly sized for buildings of 20 units or less – The basic Genesis package comes with 3 pre-programmed sensors but can handle up to 5.  Generally, one sensor is deployed for every four apartments.  Along with the separate outdoor temperature sensor (Outdoor Reset) this allows the control to monitor and anticipate the heating needs of various areas of your building. Think rock solid temperature management everywhere in your building, for the least possible energy consumption.
   
   
3. Ease of Installation – The wireless sensors use the very latest long-range technology.  No wires here. Sensors can be located 9 floors above the Genesis, without a need for repeaters.  Add to that a 10+ year battery life on the sensors, and you have a system that is essentially plug and play.
   
   
4. Ease of Management – The Heat-Timer Genesis™ is fully internet and mobile enabled. Communication between managers and the control can occur in multiple ways.
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   • Remote Alarms sent via text message and/or email. Set up thresholds for multiple alarm conditions and get notified before problems happen. 
   • Internet Management Portal – Use any browser to go to our management website to view your entire portfolio of buildings. Drill down to see control settings, alarms, and heating graphs or reports of activity and cycling from the comfort of your couch.
   • Heat-Timer® Mobile App – On the road? Did you get an alarm from a Heat-Timer® control in one of your buildings? Checking things out is a piece of cake by just firing up our app on your phone and drilling into building data. Most parameters impacting boiler operation are modifiable right from our phone app.  Works on iPhone and Android devices, a free download from the app store.

 
Call a Heat-Timer® Rep Today to Talk about the Genesis of Heating Technology
Heat-Timer Genesis™ is shipping today. It’s not too late to get one installed for the upcoming heating season, after all, it’s easy.
* Actual Savings may vary. Monthly savings is dependent on actual number of heating degree days.  https://www.heat-timer.com/
 
This blog was originally published at https://www.heat-timer.com/genesis-heat-timer-the-rebirth-of-energy-savings-for-small-building-owners/

In the 5 New York City boroughs there are literally thousands of multi-family dwellings housing millions of residents. Many of those buildings are on the smaller side, housing anywhere from 2 to 20 families. And the vast majority of those were built more than 50 years ago, using single steam or hot water boilers to heat radiators with piping, wiring, and risers buried long ago inside the walls of these buildings.
Building owners looking to modernize their heating systems to save on fuel, were often put off by the cost of recommended upgrades, especially when construction costs were factored in. Even heating control and thermostat solutions sometimes required running wires through multiple floors down to the
boiler room, when existing wiring could not support modern device interface requirements, or the wiring simply wasn’t where it needed it to be.

Genesis Was Made for This.
The key to achieving the level of comfort and savings that Heat-Timer Genesis™ does, is its use of our proprietary wireless space sensors. By reporting space temperatures in key areas of the building identified by your heating technician, the self-learning algorithms of Heat-Timer Genesis™ can actually learn the heating characteristics of your building.
And since the space sensors are wireless and boast extended range, they can simply be hung on a wall inside an apartment and the signal will reach through up to 10 floors to report to the Genesis Heat-Timer ™ unit. No running wires or setting up wireless repeaters. The sensors don’t even need to be plugged in, they run on two AA batteries and last for 10+ years.
​
Heat-Timer Genesis™ – An Easy Button for Fuel Savings and Installation
Small apartment building owners can finally make an investment in improving their heating systems that doesn’t require them to have a PHD in HVAC, or take out a second mortgage or rip up their beautiful old building. The Genesis Heat-Timer™ was made for you.
 
This blog was originally published at https://www.heat-timer.com/heat-timer-genesis-ease-of-installation/

At a high level, there are really two key area’s where Heat-Timer Genesis™ pushes the envelope of capability for a modern heating control. One area is certainly its ability to save small building owners on fuel costs while maintaining even better resident comfort. But the other area is certainly its ability to improve the quality of life, and ease of use for building managers, owners, supers and HVAC technicians alike, owing to its completely internet and mobile enabled interactions.

Heating Control Remote Alarms
One key area is that of remote alarms. Genesis Heat-Timer ™ can send real-time alarms to designated users via either email or text, or within the free Heat-Timer® Mobile App. Furthermore, alarm thresholds can be set based on user preference. There are also more types of alarms available than ever
before, and these alarms provide instant and clear indication as to what they are and where the problem is located. In many cases an alarm condition can be managed remotely, or a technician can be called, without ever needing to visit the boiler room.

Heat-Timer® Mobile App
From a quality-of-life standpoint, the visibility the free mobile app provides, means that you don’t really have to get off the couch to work a problem. The Mobile App is designed to show building managers a bird’s eye view of their building portfolio and allow them to drill into any property instantly. Small
buildings using Heat-Timer Genesis™ can be viewed alongside larger buildings using our Heat-Timer® Platinum Series controls that are BuildingNet enabled.
Visit- https://www.heat-timer.com
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This blog was originally published at https://www.heat-timer.com/mobile-app-and-alarm-notification/

We’ve talked about how our space sensors are completely wireless, but Genesis Heat-Timer ™ is also completely internet and mobile capable for remote monitoring and management. While the Genesis Heat-Timer ™ control features a local button-based interface and lcd screen, most users will quickly prefer the convenience of either our mobile app or our internet portal, which can make most trips to the boiler room a distant memory.


Many building management companies are already aware of the ease of monitoring and management our internet portal provides. With varying access and security levels, your team can see reports or make changes to your entire portfolio of buildings through a simple, intuitive, web-based interface.

By drilling down into various elements of key operational data, building managers have easy access to data that includes:

• Real-time apartment temperatures and sensor battery life
• Boiler health Status
• Boiler stack temperature and make-up water data
• Real-time alerts
• Flood detection
• Customizable Reports
• Unlimited users with customizable right levels
• Much much more…

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With Genesis Heat-Timer™ the smaller buildings in your management portfolio can be brought under the same management interface as larger buildings already using one of our Platinum Series Controls with BuildingNet. The internet portal is now like a building management system for heating across your entire portfolio of buildings.
With long range wireless sensors, an internet portal, and our mobile app, cutting your fuel costs has never been a coupled with a better improvement in your quality of life! Call Heat-Timer® today for more information.
https://www.heat-timer.com/

This blog was originally published at https://www.heat-timer.com/genesis-heat-timer-internet-portal/