(reposting)
It seems like boilers, in a lot of cases, are not sized well to match their duty.
We've been trying to look at data on heating systems, Load = GPM * DT, and then comparing that to monthly natural gas bill data. There seems to be a big gap between the design loads and the actual. Most importantly, the boiler systems spend a LOT of time at low loads (Where i think efficiency is pretty bad, and the data seems to back that up)
Most boiler over 25 years old are oversized. As we are improving the efficiency of the systems and reducing the heating loads, the boilers are getting oversized. A good energy consultant need to look at the overall heating system in a hospital and not just the distribution systems. Sometimes, new boiler burner, boiler stack heat recovery & Insulations can help to improve those boiler efficiencies.
I'm somewhat new to the community hear so I apologize for the late add, but I'm wondering anyone knows of good data sets from operating hospitals on actual heating loads? There are obviously a lot of factors on the load for boilers in hospitals that should be analyzed when designing or retrofitting plants, but having historic data is always a good way to have a sanity check when determining capacity and quantity of new boilers.