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Understanding Remote Connectivity through Heat-Timer BuildingNet

8/27/2021

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The world’s most advanced Heating controller got even better and more capable with the introduction of the Heat-Timer® Platinum Series. With Internet connectivity available as an upgrade, building owners and managers are now able to monitor, and adjust their heating controls from the comfort of a mobile app, or via our website accessible to any device connected to the internet.

The software is designed to present information integrated from many different Platinum controls, housed in many different boiler rooms, buildings, or multiple addresses. If you are a building management company with many buildings in your portfolio, it is possible to see all your properties neatly organized into a hierarchy that allows you to drill down into individual controls, or get summary reports on your buildings or properties. You can also set alarms that notify you of a wide variety of conditions in the building before they become critical.  All remotely accessible, with frequency and thresholds all perfectly under your control.

While all this software and connectivity is impressive and a massive convenience, many users of platinum controls don’t realize that internet connectivity is only half of the BuildingNet upgrade. The rest of the upgrade goes beyond the internet, and deep into your building where the real money is being wasted.

BuildingNet Connectivity also enables wireless sensor connectivity inside your building

The real value of BuildingNet in terms of payback, comes from the internal network of sensors that it enables inside your building. This is the second half of the connectivity provided by the upgrade, and is not an IP network but a completely separate wireless network.

When you upgrade your Platinum control to BuildingNet, you also enable a proprietary internal 900MHZ wireless network, similar to those used in your home for wireless handsets on your landline. By using our MSI Hub and wireless repeaters as necessary in your building we are able to create a sensor network that feeds our platinum controller real-time information on hot and cold spots in the building. The sensors used to send this information are known as our Wireless Space Sensor.

Why Does Using Space Sensors Save Me So Much Additional Money on Fuel Costs?

The short answer to this question is simply that by having specific building data points, more precise boiler control is enabled. Every building loses heat differently, sun/wind exposure, drafty windows, etc. The control is now able to learn the heat loss characteristics of your building adjust itself automatically. Please note that this is all in addition to the data provided by standard outdoor reset features which are important, but not enough to get building owners that last 20 or so percent of fuel savings through improvements in the efficiency of managing boiler firing cycles.
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Typically, installers will specify a certain amount of room sensors based on the layout and configuration of your building. Once enabled, these sensors send back temperature information that allows our control to create detailed performance curves for every area of your building. These curves inform the control with data on heat loss and hot spots in every area of your building. With a more detailed understanding of building heating profiles, our controller software can keep all areas of your building comfortable for the least amount of money possible.  All while increasing tenant comfort!

Consider Upgrading Your Platinum Control Today

There are even more powerful functions and features available through BuildingNet than we can cover here. For instance, there are other wireless sensors, like water meters, gas sensors, boiler lockout, flood alarms, and more, that are enabled by the BuildingNet upgrade and then visible via the website or mobile app.
With BuildingNet, you have a true building management system, for your heating system and related components, without the huge expense of integrating one.

If you own a Platinum control or are considering one, Heat-Timer® strongly recommends the upgrade to BuildingNet. To learn more, visit our website at: https://www.heat-timer.com/

Original blog posted on https://www.heat-timer.com/understanding-remote-connectivity-buildingnet/
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What “Penny Wise & Pound Foolish” says about Domestic Hot Water Solutions

8/26/2021

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The actual phrase “penny wise, and pound foolish” is often mistakenly credited to Benjamin Franklin, but it actually originated with an Oxford Scholar named Robert Burton in his book, “The Anatomy of Melancholy” written in 1621!

Needless to say, in 1621 domestic hot water wasn’t even a thing. It was before the advent of electricity, multi-story distributed hot water systems, and certainly before the advent of modern boilers, computerized boiler controls and mixing valves.

And yet the phrase is nowhere more relevant than when it is applied to DHW installations where mixing valves are sometimes omitted for small overall reductions in material cost or piping complexity in a commercial, domestic hot water setting.

So here’s “penny wise and pound foolish” as applied to  your domestic hot water system .

The Purpose of a 3 Way Mixing Valve in DHW

In DHW applications using traditional direct-fired storage tank systems, a mixing valve has always been an important part of the overall system design as shown in the graphic below:

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The typical 3-way valve serves several primary purposes:

  1. It allows hot water storage tanks to be maintained at temperatures high enough to sterilize the water supply (~140F – 160F per OSHA guidelines) and kill bacteria like Legionella and more.
  2. It “mixes” hot water from the tank with part of the cold water supply to insure that no one burns their hands from the hot water supply when it comes out of your sink or shower. (~110 F)
  3. It provides fail-safe operation and can provide alarms for systems in the event of an unexpected failure with the DHW system.

According to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), incidents of Legionnaire’s disease have been on the rise for over a decade
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These numbers are just what is reported of course. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine estimates that as many as 70,000 people may suffer from the disease each year, according to a report released in August 2019. The disease can cause severe sickness and even death. Individuals with a history of health issues, smoking or who are over 50 are even more at risk. For facilities, the consequences of finding the bacteria can be catastrophic, even if not deadly. The water must be shut off, expensive mitigation strategies can be required, there is almost always negative media coverage often national, and of course, there is the potential for lawsuits or even financial ruin.

How Saving Pennies threatens the whole system.

It turns out that there is a lot of misinformation out there about what does and doesn’t compromise the integrity of a domestic hot water delivery system. Some of this misinformation is even propagated by manufacturers of tankless system who want you to believe that their on-demand systems are safe to run at much lower temperatures, thus saving energy.

The truth is however quite simple and the science behind it is easily available on the websites of Federal regulatory agencies like the CDC, the World Health Organization, and private research companies.

Consider the following commonly used table of Legionella growth.

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The disinfection of your hot water is dependent on two primary things:  The temperature of the hot water and the time it remains at that temperature.  Period. And the only way to manage the proper disinfection of hot water, without risking scalding injuries at the fixture, is through management of water temperatures using a 3 way mixing valve.

A Little More Work, A Lot More Safety

Heat-Timer® recognized a while ago that installers needed a simpler and faster solution to the installation of 3 way mixing valves. That’s why we developed the Electronic Tempering Valve (ETV) and the Electronic Tempering Station or ETS. The ETS provides installers the convenience of a pre-piped and pre-wired assembly of the ETV valve and module. The installers only need to connect the hot and cold water supply, and provide power to the controller to have a completely safe, pre-plumbed solution to domestic hot water safety.

For more information on Heat-Timer’s electronic tempering valve solutions for domestic hot water applications, please contact a Heat-Timer® representative today at: (973) 575 4004.


Original blog posted on https://www.heat-timer.com/domestic-hot-water-solutions/
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Get Rebates for Boiler and Control Upgrades

8/2/2021

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Everyone has purchased something with an irresistible mail in rebate.  Sometimes that product is even free after the rebate. Yet, the Wall Street Journal has estimated that about 40% of mail-in rebates are not redeemed. Many sources say that the number is well over 50%.  According to the research done by the Wall Street Journal and others, many people forget to mail it in within 30 days of their purchase. Or, they lose the receipt. Others actually receive the rebate check and forget to cash it. These customers are literally leaving money on their kitchen table.

Do not leave money on the table when it comes to upgrading your heating system this summer. Both Consolidated Edison and National Grid are offering rebates to their gas customers who upgrade their boiler controls for their multi-family or commercial building. These utility rebates will pay property owners to purchase an energy saving internet boiler controller with apartment sensors.  Adding an internet boiler controller like the Heat-Timer® Platinum Series Controller will reduce heating costs for years to come while giving you complete visibility into your building/portfolio from anywhere.

Get paid today for saving money tomorrow

Adding a boiler controller with space feedback like the Heat-Timer ® Platinum controller has been shown to reduce heating costs from 15% to 30%. Yet, some property managers procrastinate and don’t lock in those annual savings because those cost savings are tomorrow, while the controller installation costs are today.  Fortunately, both National Grid and Con Ed understand people’s reluctance to spend money today for savings tomorrow, so both are offering substantial rebates for the installation of an internet boiler controller for customers with gas fired boilers. The rebate sweetens the deal because it reduces the payback period, meaning those savings show up faster on the bottom line.

Going Green, doesn’t have to cost you any Green

Con Edison multi-family customers who pay a firm gas rate are paying a “systems benefit charge” each month on their heating gas bill. This charge contributes to the energy efficiency rebate fund for New York State. Those same customers who contribute to the fund are then eligible to receive lucrative incentives towards energy efficiency upgrades such as upgrading their existing Heat-Timer® to become a real-time Energy Management System. The rebate process is simple, prescriptive, and is based solely on the number of units in the multifamily building. For example, a (42) unit apartment building in Manhattan would receive $8,000 from Con Edison towards this capital improvement. A (112) unit building in Westchester receives $18,000.

National Grid also offers these incentives on Heat-Timer® boiler control upgrades. A (35) unit building in Brooklyn was incentivized $4,500 for their upgrade, whereas a (196) unit apartment complex in Queens was granted $13,600. This simple rebate process can often render the building a cost-free upgrade. National Grid offers Heat-Timer® upgrade rebates to both “firm gas customers” as well as those who pay “Temperature Control” rates.

Call Heat-Timer® today to find out more

Don’t be one of those people who leave their mail-in rebate check on the kitchen table. Talk to Heat-Timer® to find out how to apply for a rebate for a Heat-Timer® Platinum Boiler controller and wireless sensors today: (973)-575-4004

Original content posted on https://www.heat-timer.com/get-rebates-for-boiler-and-control-upgrades/

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    Heat-Timer® corporate office and manufacturing facility is conveniently located in Fairfield, NJ. Here, Heat-Timer® manufactures its electronic controls, sensors, valves and actuator products using specialized computer controlled equipment and automated testing systems.

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