Installations
Prefabrication Raises the Bar
I’ve been in the home comfort trade for 20 years.
Much has changed in that time, but two things in
particular are very different from when I first lit a
standing pilot.
First, equipment has gone from “dumb” to “intelligent.”
That includes boilers, controls, T-stats, tools and
even utility vans. Second, society wants instant gratification.
They want it now, and they want it perfect. Both
of these changes impact our profession, and neither is
going to change. So we need to.
That means more preparation, thoughtful design and
precise execution. The days of “winging it” are long gone
for our industry. Now, everything must be planned,
calculated, analyzed and accounted for.
Patriot Water Heater prefabricates as many boiler systems
as possible, saving time and ensuring attention to detail.
I realized this a while ago and started making changes
in the way my company operates. The big turning point,
though—the “lightbulb” moment, as some would say—
came when I first pre-fabricated a boiler system.
These days, 90% of the boiler systems we install are
pre-assembled in the shop after carefully measuring the
mechanical space and taking many photos of the area
in which the system needs to fit. We’ve found that this
creates a better final product, reduces our time on-site,
cuts overall labor by 20% and drastically curtails system
downtime during the retrofit.
Room (and time) to work
Our prefab shop has plenty of space and plenty of light.
Working on a table or stand means we’re not stooping
Tom Soukup
Principal
Patriot Water Heater Co.
over or resting on our knees. Big equipment/tools are
already in place, so we’re not wasting time with setup
and tear-down. We have jigs and spacers for a variety of
system types and sizes, depending largely on the number
of boilers in a system (more on that later).
The shop offers a relaxed atmosphere; no customers
watching, no other trades fighting over power outlets, no
messes, no weather considerations, no loud noises, etc.
This all means greater attention to detail. Burn permits
and fire watch are also a thing of the past. Hydronic
racks are accessible from all sides, unlike working
against a mechanical room wall.
We make our racks out of unistrut and build the system
up from there. If the system is meant to heat a pool,
or will be exposed to other caustic environments, we use
stainless steel rack material.
We preassemble the entire boiler system to include
wiring and all components. Everything is assembled
loose and will be press connected later in the field.
Once the system is complete, we take pictures, label
everything with tape, put it in a box and reassemble it
on-site like a simple jigsaw puzzle.
Cost, redundancy, turndown
Prefabbing boiler systems makes my company more
competitive and provides a better product. Plain and
simple, it just makes the job easier. Through the
process of developing our pre-fab methods, we found
another trick to add value to our commercial and
multi-family installations.
Prefabricating boiler systems makes it easy to
install multiple condensing boilers. We’ve found that
it’s less expensive, per British Thermal Unit (BTU), to
install multiple, small boilers than a single big one.
For example, many of the systems we replace require
somewhere in the neighborhood of 450 to 550 thousand
BTU per hour (MBH). In those situations, we fabricate
hydronic systems with three U.S. Boiler Company K2
condensing boilers. If we need less firepower, we can
drop to a smaller model. Need more heat? Add more
boilers!
As I mentioned, equipment cost per BTU is usually
slightly lower with multiple boilers, but there are many
other advantages, such as redundancy with multiple
boilers. The units are physically easier to handle. Turndown
ratio goes way up. In the case of the K2 boilers,
three boilers provide a full 30:1 turndown. Pair that
with 95% annual fuel utilization efficiency (AFUE), and
we’re talking about some major energy efficiency.
24 ICM/November/December 2022