Everything You Need to Know About Reducing Your Heating Costs
In Canada, an estimated 81% of household energy use is for space heating & domestic hot water generation(1). In the US, estimates place this at 61%(2). This presents a remarkable energy savings opportunity.
In order to provide comfortable indoor temperatures, the rate of heat supplied to a building must equal the rate of heat loss. The greatest factor affecting how much heat a building requires is the outdoor temperature. Even in a well-insulated building, heat loss increases as the outdoor temperature falls.
Traditional heating systems do not know the difference between a cool autumn night and the coldest winter day. Because of this, the boiler always operates at a temperature calculated to make up for heat loss on the coldest day of the year. This is called the ‘design’ temperature. On average, this extreme temperature is needed for >10 days in a year.
tekmar HVAC controls are designed to provide comfort using the lowest possible supply water temperatures. By automatically adjusting the boiler supply water temperatures to match the buildings actual heat requirements, tekmar HVAC controls can reduce heating costs by up to 25%.
What Can a tekmar Control Do for My High-efficiency Boiler?
Outdoor temperature reset saves energy with modern condensing boilers as well as older non-condensing models. For a worry-free installation, look at controls that include both outdoor temperature reset as well as indoor temperature feedback. Having both features ensures modern high-efficiency condensing boilers are operated using the lowest possible water temperatures. This is important because the efficiency of these boilers increases with lower return water temperatures.
Look at how the efficiency level of a condensing boiler decreases as the return water temperature increases in the chart. The performance advantage of these boilers can be lost if they are not given the chance to operate at lower temperatures.
Efficiency & Comfort Built Right In
Like a best friend helping you through a break-up, indoor temperature feedback gives an outdoor temperature reset control a boost by reacting to heat loss or gains caused by people, appliances, the sun, wind, or any other factor besides the outdoor temperature. Communication with tekmarNet® thermostats enables tekmarNet® controls to adjust system water temperatures based on both outdoor and indoor temperatures. With indoor temperature feedback, contractors no longer need to return to the site to fine-tune control settings if the anticipated design temperatures were too low. In tekmarNet® systems, the control automatically takes care of shifting the heating curve to prevent overheating or underheating.
The More You Know
- A study conducted by the MCEE found a range of savings from 5 to 25% when apartments with older boilers were retrofitted with outdoor temperature reset and automatic warm weather shutoff control. Don't believe us? Download the study
- Boilers of all kinds, heat pumps, and even mixing devices can be controlled to provide outdoor temperature reset to a system. Contractors can make use of existing thermostats or improve the system performance further by selecting a tekmarNet® communicating thermostat and system control combination. Indoor temperature feedback is a feature that comes standard with tekmarNet® communication.
- The coldest average outdoor temperature specific to your location is referred to as the ‘design’ temperature. With outdoor temperature reset, energy will be saved whenever the outdoor temperature is above design temperature and space heating is required. When you add indoor temperature feedback, energy will also be saved when heat is added to the building by people, appliances, or the sun.
- tekmar HVAC system controls such as house, boiler, steam, universal, and mixing controls include outdoor temperature reset. While tekmarNet® HVAC system controls provide indoor temperature feedback when used in a system with tekmarNet® Thermostats.
- Installers should start by considering the number and type of heat sources in the system. If the system provides domestic hot water, multiple water temperatures or cooling, a control that supports those features is required. Please see the appropriate comparison chart below for more.
Extracurricular Reading & Resources
Compare Multi-Staging controls
Learn more about indoor environmental comfort
Fey, C. (2011, October). Outdoor reset has arrived. Contractor Magazine. http://contractormag.com/columns/fey/outdoor-reset-1011
>(1)Source - Natural Resources Canada 2007 Data
>(2)Source - US Energy Information Administration 2005 Data