flexiblefullpage
billboard
interstitial1
catfish1
Currently Reading

Tankless water heaters improve water heating efficiency in an Indiana condo community

Sponsored Content Plumbing

Tankless water heaters improve water heating efficiency in an Indiana condo community

Cascaded Navien NPE-240A tankless water heaters installed in three phases at condominium community in Culver, Ind.


By NAVIEN INC. | May 4, 2020
Jason Richards, A+ Plumbing Heating and Cooling, with Navien NPE-240A tankless water heaters

Jason Richards, owner of A+ Plumbing Heating and Cooling, installed Navien NPE-240A tankless water heaters at Culver Cove, a condo community in Indiana. Photo: Navien

     

Culver Cove is an 80‑unit condo complex located on Lake Maxinkuckee near Culver, Ind.

Originally hot water was supplied from three strategically located utility rooms, each with six 100‑gallon commercial tank‑type heaters. Circulating pumps and mixing valves were required to prevent scalding. Rich West, Executive Director of Culver Cove, was looking for a more efficient hot water system to reduce energy costs, especially during low demand periods. His research led him to the Navien Premium Efficiency (NPE) tankless water heaters that would eliminate the energy cost of constantly running the tanks to be ready for hot water demand.

West worked with Mike Lambert, then with Mid-City Supply Co., and Clark Boyles of P-M & Associates, the Navien distributor and rep in northern Indiana. They recommended a phase one installation of five cascaded Navien NPE-240A units for about one-third of the complex—about 26 units, from one to three bedrooms each. With the proven energy savings of the first phase, Culver Cove proceeded to change out the other two utility rooms that served the rest of the condos.

 

Culver Cove, an 80-unit condo community in Culver, Ind., installed Navien tankless water heaters to improve energy efficiencyCulver Cove, an 80-unit condo community in Culver, Ind., installed Navien tankless water heaters to  improve its overall energy efficiency.

 

Lambert and Boyles worked with Jason Richards, Owner of A+ Plumbing Heating and Cooling, to work out details for sizing, designing, and installing the system. The installation of each section took about a week and a half, including removing the old tanks. The five Navien units used two sets of four-inch PVC vent pipes that ran through the roof in an existing 12‑inch B vent.

 

BENEFITS OF NAVIEN NPE TANKLESS SYSTEM

Efficient hot water supply.  “The five Navien units are cascaded so when the master unit comes on, it triggers the next one in line to help as needed, and so on until all units are running if necessary,” said Richards. “Each time a Navien unit comes on, it’s a different master-slave situation, so all five units have equal run times.”

Technical factors. “Unlike the old tank system, we could eliminate the external circulating pump and mixing valve, since we can set the temperature at 120 degrees,” said Boyles. Another factor in selecting Navien NPE-A tankless water heaters was the internal recirculating pump and buffer tank, which assure an uninterrupted flow of hot water.

 

Old conventional water heaters at Culver Cove, Inc., condominiumsOld conventional water heaters at Culver Cove condominiums were replaced to improve energy efficiency.

 

Energy and water savings. “We have noticed a decrease in our energy cost from NIPSCO, our local gas supplier—a real dollar savings every month,” said West. “We have applied for an energy rebate. I also have seen a decrease in our domestic water use.”

Easier installation. “One of the main reasons we went with Navien is the ability to use PVC,” Richards said. “The common venting also makes it less expensive. In this retrofit situation, we could use existing penetrations to run our vents. That saved a lot of labor.”

For more information: NavienInc.com.

Tags

Related Stories

Plumbing | May 4, 2021

Elkay Joins Plumbing Manufacturers International

Elkay is a family-owned manufacturer of sinks, faucets, drinking water solutions, and other plumbing products. 

Multifamily Housing | Mar 7, 2021

New Olympia i3 kitchen faucet: geometric lines, minimalist style

Announcing the new Olympia i3 single handle pull-down kitchen faucet for today's modern kitchen.

75 Top Building Products | Dec 3, 2020

Top Plumbing Products for 2020

Kohler's Graze smart faucet and Bradley Corp.'s L-shaped WashBar are among the 5 new plumbing products to make Building Design + Construction's 2020 75 Top Products report.

Plumbing | May 5, 2020

Viega hosts online training

Contractors who want to increase their knowledge and add skills can now receive Viega LLC training online and interact with trainers.

Multifamily Housing | Apr 23, 2020

Tankless water heaters: 12 things to know about these energy savers for multifamily housing

Twelve factors to consider in using tankless water heaters in multifamily housing.

Continuing Education and Life Time Learning | Apr 3, 2020

Online technical training sessions on tankless water heaters and boilers

Tankless water heaters and boiler training for plumbing contractors.

Plumbing | Mar 13, 2020

Pioneer Industries launches new website

Pioneer Industries launches new website

75 Top Building Products | Dec 16, 2019

101 Top Products for 2019

Building Design+Construction readers and editors select their top building products for the past 12 months in the fourth-annual 101 Top Products report.

75 Top Building Products | Dec 16, 2019

Top Plumbing Products for 2019

Sloan's CX Flushometer and Zip Water's HydroTap are among the eight plumbing products to make Building Design+Construction's 2019 101 Top Products report. 

boombox1
boombox2
native1

More In Category


Plumbing

EPA to revise criteria for WaterSense faucets and faucet accessories

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) plans to revise its criteria for faucets and faucet accessories to earn the WaterSense label. The specification launched in 2007; since then, most faucets now sold in the U.S. meet or exceed the current WaterSense maximum flow rate of 1.5 gallons per minute (gpm). 



halfpage1

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021