ZION EPISCOPAL CHURCH, Oconomowoc, Wis.
Retrofit Team
MECHANICAL CONTRACTOR: Schulte Heating LLC, Oconomowoc
Materials
With failing boilers and an inefficient heating system, the historic church needed help.
“Our heating system consisted of four nearly 12-year-old 199-MBH boilers,” says Linda Georgeson, senior warden with Zion Episcopal Church.“Two of the four boilers were no longer functioning, and we were convinced the other two would fail because one was leaking. We were quite distressed to have such failures on this large purchase of units that were considered state-of-the-art when we bought them.”
Church representatives invested a lot of time researching and evaluating commercial boilers and reviewing the proposals they received. “In an open meeting of the church, we charted cross comparisons of all the different units, the associated costs and warranties, and who would handle installation,” Georgeson recalls.
Rich Schulte Jr., vice president of Schulte Heating, oversaw the boiler upgrade project.
“Upon our analysis, in addition to having unreliable boilers, the church also had quite a bit more capacity than it needed with the four previous boilers,” Schulte says. “And the church knew it had to act quickly because they wouldn’t be able to heat the building with only one functioning boiler.”
Schulte Heating replaced the four failing boilers with two Evergreen boilers—299 MBH and 399 MBH. They were installed as a Multiple Boiler System, using the Modbus Communication feature. In this configuration, a master boiler controls the modulation and sequencing of boilers on the network to achieve the desired system supply temperature.
“With the automatic sequencing feature, the boilers communicate directly with one another, so they sequence themselves and rotate as needed,” Schulte says. “Both operate at the lowest rate to optimize efficiencies.”
The new 95 percent AFUE Evergreen offers simple controls, flexible functionality for multiple applications and a durable design, as well as is easy to install, use and maintain. The units are adaptable for most heating needs, including light commercial or large residential applications, and for single- or multi-boiler installations. Evergreen offers quiet operation, floor standing or wall mount options, and environmental sustainability.
“Evergreen is the only boiler I proposed to Zion because I really like the technology of the fire-tube heat exchanger in those boilers,” Schulte notes. “In addition, they are easy to set up through the set-up wizard option provided on initial start-up and also easily maintained. Another important feature is the units don’t require a separate, external control panel or boiler panel, and that was ideal because the church did not currently have a separate interface to view the status of the systems. It’s now very easy to see the system status and service the units, if needed.”
The installation took less than a week, and Georgeson is already seeing efficiencies with the new units, which have been installed for less than a year. “We’ve noticed a significant savings on our energy bills when comparing this year’s monthly bills to last year,” Georgeson says. “This was not surprising as we expected to experience energy savings based on the high efficiency of these boilers. We imagine we will save hundreds of dollars in the long term.”
The units are configured to handle the five separate church thermostats/zones. Each thermostat is programmed for usage depending on the day and whether the area is occupied.
EVERGREEN BOILERS MANUFACTURER: Weil-McLain
The Retrofit
In 1846, the Rt. Reverend Jackson Kemper, the first missionary Episcopal Bishop, established the Zion Episcopal community in Oconomowoc. The present day stone church situated on Fowler Lake was built in 1889.
PHOTO: Weil-McLain