Case Study:  HVJ

As Gas Costs Rise, Electric Boiler Saves Thousands for ANMed Health

Off-Peak Use of High Efficiency Precision Boilers' HVJ Electric Unit Gets Energy Costs Back In Line.

Monroe Brown, Engineering Manager for AnMed, stands next to Precision Boilers’ high efficiency electric boiler at the facility.  AnMed is projected to save over $150,000 per year, with a two-year payback.

Monroe Brown is a very good engineering manager.  But even he couldn’t foresee the cost of natural gas going up 50 to 70% in a year’s time.

This placed lots of pressure on Brown and AnMed Health, the leading hospital complex in Anderson, SC.  AnMed is a health care system made up of three hospitals, including the 533-bed Anderson Area Medical Center and the AnMed ambulatory campus.

Because of rising gas costs, it was impossible for AnMed to stay within energy budgets.  And as health care facilities get squeezed financially from insurance providers, medical equipment purchases, and staff costs, energy problems were something AnMed didn’t need.

Enter Precision Boilers. 

Using a high-efficiency electric boiler unit operating during off-peak hours at off-peak electric rates, Precision Boilers was able to help Brown and AnMed dramatically reduce energy costs immediately.  As gas prices continue to rise, the energy savings continue to increase.

"The total investment was around $300,000," Brown said.  “The ROI was less than two years.   And the electric boiler doesn’t require as many chemical additives to maintain the boiler water,” he said.

Brown said that during peak electric rate hours (1 pm to 9 pm), the gas boilers operate, but during off-peak times, the system switches to electric, providing steam for the 560 bed, nearly 900,000 square foot facility spread over 16 acres.

“Off-peak constitutes about 80% of the time,” Brown said.  In the winter months, hourly electric pricing will be greatly reduced and there could be days or weeks that we run the just the electric boiler.”

Brown noted that he continually monitors costs and can quickly adjust should other, more economical strategies (like buying hourly pricing) become available.

Instant.  And Quiet.

Brown said one of the advantages of the 5.6 megawatt electric boiler from Precision Boilers (Model HVJ) is that it provides virtually instant steam when started.  The boiler is 99.97% efficient, compared to approximately 80% efficiency for the facility’s gas boilers. The electric boiler also produces better quality steam and eliminates the need for moisture separators in the lines.  Maintenance costs are much lower than for its gas counterparts.

And it’s much quieter, creating a better work environment.  “When the electric boiler comes on, the boiler house gets very quiet,” Brown said.  “The gas boilers make a lot of noise.”

Brown said that the control system with the Precision Boilers unit also provides an advantage.  Working from the computer in his office, he called up the previous day’s operation history for the unit.  “I can go back to any time during the day that the boiler is running and see exactly what it is doing.  The pressure at 10:33am was 85 psi; it was using 2.56 megawatts, and the conductivity of the water was 1767.”

Brown said this is important because of the value of “marrying” the gas and electric systems operation.  “Startup and shutdown are critical,” he said, as the systems switch, so that service isn’t interrupted and so the hospital gets the best energy rates.  Precision Boilers has worked closely with AnMed to “tweak” the system software so that the system cycling is tightly controlled. 

AnMed is so pleased with the electric unit that it has ordered a second electric boiler from Precision Boilers.

Other Applications Promise Even Better Return

As effective as the system has been for the hospital, Brown noted that where it can really pay off is for a manufacturer whose cost of production is tied to energy costs.

“Where this boiler will be even more relevant is at a company that uses process steam and it is directly involved in the product they sell,” he said.  “If a company budgets ‘X’ number of dollars and prices its product based on projected energy costs, and then for some reason energy costs go up 40%, they have already committed to their customers and have to eat that 40%.  Sometimes, the 40% is not there to eat.  If the company is competing with competition out of the country, this is critical.

“So when a technology becomes available where a company can go to the electric utility and get a guarantee that rates aren’t going to change for 12 months, then it knows what its costs are going to be.  That is a blessing,” he said.

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