Furnace failures can cost thousands, put people out of their homes, or shut down entire businesses. But a few smart investments in high-efficiency materials and machinery can help prevent the worst from happening. Every year, the onset of cold weather brings with it a host of problems for many. Leaky windows cause uncomfortable zones inside, inefficient heating systems bring steep fuel prices, and old or poorly maintained machinery leads to catastrophic failure, freezing indoor temperatures, and burst piping.
Late last year, the 103-year-old Morrison’s Furniture store on Watertown’s Factory Street closed its doors because their building’s furnace failed a month earlier.
“With the boiler, it’s just time,” owner Cheryl “Sherry” Morrison Pastor told the Watertown Daily Times at the end of November as the historic store announced its closure. “There’s no heat in here and getting tough to be in here.”
ENERGY EFFICIENCY
It’s not clear what would have been necessary for Morrison’s to stay open — it’s a six-floor, nearly 25,000-square-foot warehouse-style building built in the early 1900s. But for any building today, experts advise a focus on energy efficiency when upgrading or maintaining a property.
Michael Reed is the acting head of the large buildings department at the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.
“Improving energy efficiency, whether it’s a home or a business, is always a smart investment,” Reed said. “It saves money, increases the performance of and comfort of a building, and helps reduce carbon emissions.”
Those improvements can be to the structure of a building, like putting in new windows and doors that are less drafty and retain heat better, or upgrading and installing insulation.
“Doing as much to weatherize and reduce infiltration of outside air into your home is really important, and that can extend the life of the home or business’s existing heating system, and so on,” Reed said.
FLEXTECH
NYSERDA has a program aimed at helping business owners plot out an energy efficiency plan, called FlexTech. For commercial, industrial, institutional, and multi-family residential buildings, owners who pay into the System Benefits Charge on their electric bill can receive a discounted energy study of their building. That study will produce a detailed assessment of a building or business’s operations and where savings can be found, either by adjusting practices or making targeted upgrades and investments.
Preschools through to high schools can also apply for a study with 75% cost sharing, or 100% for certain high-need districts.
“Being proactive and getting a trained professional to look at the heating system really can help diagnose where there are opportunities to improve the efficiency of the system today, which will prolong the life of the heating system,” Reed said.
With routine maintenance, any system can continue to operate for many years, but eventually, even the best-maintained systems will need replacement. Reed said it’s important that any building owner, whether it’s a single-family home or a large industrial facility, plan for replacing their heating system once their maintenance plan has run its course.
“It’s really imperative to develop a plan before the heating system has kicked the bucket and you’re in a situation where you can no longer provide heat,” Reed said.
CONSIDER UPDATES
Emergency calls to get failed systems back on can be expensive, and they don’t always work — and in extreme cold weather, damage to an unheated building can happen fast.
In terms of maintenance, Reed said that building owners should consider updating their heating control systems — the thermostats and any equipment on the heating unit itself, to make the system more responsive to current conditions.
“For a building using natural gas or fuel oil to run a boiler producing hot water or steam and distributing that, a lot of times putting in better controls allows that heating system to not over-produce heat, and rather deliver the right amount of heat,” Reed said. “That reduces overall strain on the system, and keeps the temperature inside more consistent too.”
When upgrading equipment or installing heating systems in new construction, Reed said that residential applications have an advantage in the Energy Star program, which rates home appliances like dishwashers, refrigerators, as well as doors and windows for energy efficiency. Commercial construction relies on more custom equipment suited to larger spaces, so identifying energy-efficient equipment requires input from a professional.
“If you’re running a health care facility your needs are different from that of a furniture store,” he said. “There’s an important consideration of what the heating load is for that business or operation.”
HEAT PUMPS
Reed said one technology to keep in mind is the heat pump. The technology has become a hit for energy-efficient construction, relying on either ambient air temperatures, ground temperatures, or water temperatures to move heat in or out of a space.
Heat pumps can cool or heat a space with little energy input and from a single installation, and can be found in window units, furnace-style installations, and even as options for hot water systems. Upgrading your home heating system with zoned controls can also provide advantages. Some after-installation solutions involve upgrading the thermostat system and installing remote-controlled louvers on the registers of the system.
“You don’t necessarily need heat in every room in a house or business,” Reed said. “Sitting in only a certain section of a home, having that be the right temperature while the rest of the house is cooler or warmer depending on season can be very efficient.”
Reed also stressed that for any building, especially older buildings or residential construction, investing in insulation can be a major improvement.
“The last thing you want in the depth of winter is a drafty house, and insulation can really help to improve a home’s comfort and warmth,” Reed said.
Blown-in insulation can be used to insulate already-built homes, and seasonal investments in weatherization on doors and windows, like window insulating shrink films and insulating trim on unused doors or windows, can be helpful as well.
At energyadvisor.ny.gov, NYSERDA experts have put together a questionnaire for those interested in energy-efficient upgrades to complete that can provide tips and offers for energy efficiency programs that could help building owners save money on improvements or get assistance on their energy bills.