Performance Verification System Saves Nursing Home Considerable Energy Costs - Application Note

CAS DataLoggers provided a performance verification system for a solar water heating system installed in a nursing home. The solar collectors, installed by a local HVAC contractor, are commonly used to heat residences, pools and hot tubs and to provide hot water. In this case, the facility’s kitchen was a large user of hot water for cooking and dishwashing. On sunny days, solar collectors mounted on the roof heat water in a closed loop system to 150°F or more which is then stored in a 1,000 gallon tank. Hot water from the tank is pumped through a plate heat exchanger which then heats up tap water to provide residents and the kitchen with hot water all day. This system saves the nursing home considerable energy costs since the solar collectors provide the bulk of the energy for heating instead of using conventional gas or electric water heaters to take incoming water from 50-60°F to use temperature. The HVAC company wanted a monitoring system to provide data showing how much energy was coming from the solar collectors. This help verify savings for future presentations to governmental and residential customers and for inclusion in their sales literature.