As a small apartment building owner, you know how expensive it can be to keep your property adequately heated. You have an obligation to provide your tenants with an appropriately-heated environment during the cold winter months, but with fuel costs surging, you need to be smart about how this gets done.

One common method used by smaller apartment or office buildings that are served by single boiler heating systems, is to install a professional boiler management system. These systems bring high-tech fuel management techniques to smaller apartment buildings, potentially saving building owners tens of thousands of dollars a year in heating costs and paying for themselves quickly in terms of up front investment. In this article we’ll go through some of the key factors recommending heating controls for small apartment buildings, and how a company like Tri-Tech Energy, can specify and install these systems. 

The ROI of Commercial Heating Control Systems

For smaller apartment buildings that have around 20 units, figuring out the most cost-effective way to heat the building can be tricky. You may feel that you cannot justify the cost of installing a modern boiler heating control system due to the up-front costs, the limited potential for savings in your building, or other factors.

You need to get the facts around an investment like this because so many building owners do not realize just how effective these controls can be. They may not even realize that some of the cost of purchasing and installing the controls can be reduced through rebate programs and that the cost of installation may actually be less than you thought!

What is a Commercial Heating Control?

A commercial heating control generally handles firing cycles of either steam or hot water boilers, to create comfortable heating conditions while using the minimum amount of fuel, be it either gas or oil. As a bonus, these systems can be configured to monitor other parts of your boiler room and temperatures through your building and report these measurements through the internet or as alarms on your cell phone. The sophistication of these controls is such that almost all the changes and diagnostics you want can be managed from your living room, improving quality of life for building managers as well.

But for most, the convenience features are an unexpected bonus. What they are really looking for is lower monthly utility bills during the heating season and that is exactly what the best controls deliver. Controls like the Heat-Timer® Platinum series have been the evolving standard in heating control performance for decades and represent the most advanced boiler control systems available today. These controls have been shown to save between 15% to almost 50% a year on heating costs.

Why Don’t More Small Building Managers Invest in Them?

It’s a simple fact that the larger your building is and the more heat you use regularly, the faster you’ll be able to recoup the money you invested in your new heating control system.  On a small building your monthly bill is less, so your percentage savings is less.  If the cost of installing a heating control is similar for each building, it stands to reason that the ROI of Heating control investment is pushed out much further on small buildings, making the decision less attractive.

Another factor is sometimes the difficulty of installing these systems in older buildings. Wired sensors outside the boiler room are problematic and difficult to implement. Sometimes small building managers also lack the expertise to manage and maintain these systems and are afraid of investing in a technology they will be responsible for and won’t use properly.

In 2022, Every Commercial building can benefit from a Dedicated Heating Control.

While Tri-Tech has installed and used many brands of heating control over the years, we’ve largely settled on one that clearly leads the field in terms of capability and performance. The Heat-Timer® brand of heating control is the most sophisticated heating control out there, handling every kind of heating and boiler room situation, while consistently saving more money on fuel than any other control we’ve used. It’s not really surprising given that they practically invented the heating control industry almost 100 years ago. 

While these Heat-Timer® controls are the common choice for large apartment buildings and offices, they were less used in smaller buildings for the economic reasons mentioned earlier. But in 2022 Heat-Timer has announced a heating control designed for buildings of less than 20 units. This control is based on an evolution of their flagship, platinum series control. It uses the same AI based learning algorithms for anticipatory heat management, but is at a price point designed for smaller building owners.  It uses wireless room sensors throughout the building and is tied into a mobile app and internet management portal that makes it easy to install and use, further lowering up front, and ongoing investment. It can make your building cheaper to run, greener, and help lower your carbon footprint in compliance with government regulations. 

So, if you’re ready to invest in a high-performing heating system for your smaller apartment building, the team at Tri-Tech Energy can tell you that The Genesis Heat-Timer™ is an excellent option. It’s an extremely cost-effective choice for single boiler commercial buildings like university dorms, small hotels, and smaller apartment buildings. It works with both steam and hot water heating systems, and unlike other commercial heating controls on the market, it uses both outdoor reset and space sensor temperature feedback to regulate boiler firing that achieves the perfect balance between tenant comfort and energy savings. 

For more information about commercial heating controls for apartment buildings, or if you would like more information, please contact our team at Tri-Tech Energy today. Discover why so many people choose us as their trusted commercial heating control installer by visiting our website at: https://www.tritechenergy.com/