New life for a 58-year-old York Shipley
The Lakeside Condos date back to the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair. The original boiler, a York Shipley fire tube, was slated for demolition and replacement after 58 years of service.
After reviewing the options to remove the old boiler and install new condensing gas boilers, MacDonald-Miller suggested that the customer retube the old boiler and upgrade the burner and controls systems.
It’s important to note that sometimes adding high efficiency condensing boilers to an older building is not the best option. Often, the existing building heat exchangers will not work with the low water temperatures required for condensing boilers if they want to keep their advertised ‘high efficiency’ rating.
It’s a good reminder that new equipment is not always the right solution. In this case, the upgrade saved hundreds of thousands of dollars from what a new system would’ve cost. That approach would not have delivered a reasonable ROI over the life of the new boilers.
Way to go MacMiller!
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