IT’S SIMPLE … BY CLEANING YOUR HEAT EXCHANGER, THE IMPROVED EFFICIENCY WILL MORE THAN OFFSET ANY CLEANING COSTS THROUGH ENERGY SAVINGS AND IMPROVED PERFORMANCE.
ECONOMICS OF CLEANING PLATE HEAT EXCHANGERS
300 Tons Water Source Heat Pumps
Consumption — 0.9 KWH/Ton
Average cost — $0.15 KW
Supposition — A clean heat exchanger will allow an additional 1-2 hours daily of non-mechanical cooling, when compared with a dirty one (six day week).
Calculations:
1 Hour/Day Savings
0.9 KW x 300 tons x 1 hour x 130 days = 35,100 KW
$0.15 Cost x 35,100 KW = $5,265 Savings
2 Hours/Day Savings
0.9 KW x 300 tons x 2 hours x 130 days = 70,200 KW
$0.15 Cost x 70,200 KW = $10,530 Savings
Average Cost of Cleaning: $3,000
Return on Investment for 1 Hour/Day Savings: 76%
Return on Investment for 2 Hours/Day Savings: 251%
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THE COMMON PRACTICE of pulling the end bell heads off of chillers to inspect and clean the tubes of a chiller or condenser bundle has been utilized for as long as these pieces of equipment have been in use. With the increase of plate and frame heat exchangers being installed in HVAC applications, there has been a tendency to perform less preventive maintenance.
The average chiller condenser tube may run from 3/8″ to 5/8″ or larger. The average distance in a plate and frame heat exchanger from one plate to the next may be as little as 1/16″. Yet, Bond often finds facilities that have not opened their heat exchangers for years to inspect and clean them, even though the tolerance for fouling is much higher than the traditional chiller.
Bond has cleaned in excess of 500 Plate & Frame heat exchangers over the years, following manufacturers’ guidelines, minimizing downtime by performing this service in the evenings, on weekends, or on holidays. The improved efficiency more than offsets the cost through energy savings and improved performance.
If you have not consulted with Bond in the past for this service, please contact us for a free, no-obligation evaluation to perform this valuable specialty maintenance offering!
Contact us today to see how we can save you money through our HVAC Rehab Division. You can reach us by phone at 301.721.2663 or send us an email. You can also complete our Request for Information form.