www.fueloilnews.com | FUEL OIL NEWS | MARCH 2016 35
They had less than a week to remove
and replace 5.4 million BTUs worth of
boiler capacity. Their new design called for
six condensing boilers.
"Fortunately, the fan coil units and
baseboard are in good shape," said
Matt Husmann, president of Husmann
Plumbing and Heating in Alamosa,
Colo.. "But the circulators, near-boiler
piping and venting all needed to go."
Husmann's crew was ready for the task,
but there were a few folks that were con-
cerned about the timeline.
Ye of little faith.
"At a board meeting before the retrofit,
a lawyer asked me if I'd pay for damages
if the project wasn't finished in six days,"
said Husmann. "I told I told him I'd pay
$5,000 out of pocket for every day we went
past deadline."
In addition to the time invested in the
design, Matt also helped the board seek
funding to get it done. One of his kids
attended Sierra Grande. He wasn't about
to drop the ball.
"After working with Matt on the plan, I
was confident that they could do the job well
within a week's time," said Superintendent
of Sierra Grande, Darren Edgar.
That plan included replacing the
26-year-old cast iron boilers with six, 800
MBH Burnham Alpine condensing boil-
ers and install new primary-secondary
piping. New high-efficiency Taco Viridian
circulators for increased controllability
and electrical savings.
"Based on the new boilers' 95% effi-
ciency rating and ability to modulate, I
think we'll easily see a 50% energy sav-
ings," said Husmann. "But I'm hoping
for 65%. The year before the retrofit, the
school used 28,600
gallons of LP."
The breakdown
The plan was perfect on paper. The stain-
less steel Alpines would go right on top of
the old boiler slab, stacked two high. In this
fashion, the new boilers used a third of the
space required by the original propane-
guzzling system.
"The new boilers have a five-to-one
"We worked on this design with the school district and McCoy sales for a year and a half,"
said Matt Husmann, president of Husmann Plumbing and Heating, in Alamosa, Colo.
"The plan was to do it during summer break, but the boiler failures moved the timeline up.
Because school was in session, we needed to pull it off during a short holiday break."
Matt Husmann
begins piping one of
three large Burnham
Alpine condensing
boilers at the school.
