Some like it hot—the rest of the story: building principles

Camping Magazine, May-June, 2007 by Rick Stryker

In October of 2005, "Building Principles" looked at a budding project to replace the hot water heating system in a camp kitchen. Way back then, I promised that we'd return to the story when there was more to tell, so here's the "rest of the story" as radio commentator Paul Harvey likes to call it. After a winter of wrestling with the project, and a summer of operation, it's time to tell you how it all came out in the end. If you can, break out that back issue and read through the details. For those of you who don't archive Camping Magazine though, let's revisit the high points.

The camp's kitchen needed a supply of hot water for food preparation, as well as hand and dishwashing. The dishwasher units were configured to sanitize the dishes at the rinse cycle with 180 degree water. The existing system was a cobbled together collection of propane fired boilers, a recirculating pump, and a leaky pressurized storage tank. The camp was considering replacing the single boiler with three modern boilers that the plumber believed had sufficient capacity, but the question of hot water storage (a regulated pressure vessel) remained a big question mark. The alternative was a technology called "tankless" or "demand" hot water heating. The idea is that hot water is never stored, but produced only when there is an open hot water faucet (a "demand"). So instead of keeping water hot for hours with nobody using it, energy is consumed only when there is a need.

But would it work? Originally, the plan was to use the summer of '06 to measure and record hot water and propane use. However, shortly after the October '05 article was written, it became clear that the units would have to be replaced before the next season, or the kitchen would be out of business altogether. About that time, everything kicked into a much higher gear.

Autumn 2005

Water samples were collected and analyzed to determine whether and how much softening would be required. As it turned out, the hardness was within the acceptable limits. No softening would be required at all! Then we had to consult with the State agency that inspects boilers. In Pennsylvania, that's the Bureau of Labor and Industries. It turned out that there were several issues that we'd have to address before they would approve such an installation. The most difficult would be the requirement that the boiler design and construction had to be certified by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). Many client camps in Pennsylvania avoid this requirement by purchasing several smaller hot water heaters that individually do not exceed a certain heating rate. For the tankless setup to work, the units which would deliver enough hot water for the kitchen would exceed the limit by more than two times. The units we had our eye on were not certified, and there was no intention to pursue it. Back to square one: research the market. We found one manufacturer which was within striking distance of meeting the requirement, but they weren't sure how long the final process would take. It was November and the clock was ticking. December passed and still no news, good or bad.

Winter 2006

Finally, in the second week of January, we received word from the manufacturer's representative that the equipment had its ASME certifications and that these units would be on the market soon. How soon? "Maaaaybe late spring or early summer," they thought. We couldn't afford to wait until the last minute because even the conventional boiler equipment took weeks or months to order and deliver, and then there was installation time required. Using all of the information we had available, we worked with camp leaders to develop a timetable and decision tree that established a series of milestones that provided a preferred chain of events (installation of tankless heaters) but which incorporated a fall back plan if the preferred plan fell through. At the same time, we drew plans and prepared bid documents for both alternatives so that we could put either plan into effect on very short notice. By the time the snow melted, we were ready for [almost] anything.

Spring 2006

In April, the supplier notified us that if we placed an order immediately, we could have the units at camp in two weeks. Fortunately, our timetable actually allowed four weeks, because in our haste, we actually ordered and received heaters configured for natural gas and not propane. They had to be returned to the factory (via standard freight!) and replacements had to cross on the way. While this was happening, we were signing a contractor to do the job and ensuring that his insurance was in order among other administrative requirements. The right units arrived the day before the contractor was supposed to install them. Luck? Sure! There was some luck involved, but much more, it was our plan--thought through and followed--that allowed things to work as they did.

Summer 2006

Countdown to camp! The week before staff arrived, the kitchen staff came for precamp. Given the history of the hot water system, they were pretty skeptical that something like this would work at all, let alone meet the requirements of the inspectors. And briefly, it looked like things might not work out like we'd hoped. Two issues vexed us.