ACEEE 2010 Hot Water Forum

Central Domestic Hot Water Systems in Multi-Family Buildings

May 13, 2010 Charlotte Bonneville Heschong Mahone Group, Inc.

DHW System Energy Flow

Mechanical Room

Hot water return Hot water supply Branch Cold water supply

Water Heater Losses

Branch Recirculation Losses Loop Losses

End-Use Energy

30%

? ?

40%

? ?

Distribution Losses

? ? 30%

Study Goals
Conduct field monitoring of DHW systems in more than 30 multi-family buildings in California Assess and analyze the detail energy performance of each DHW System components Assess the energy saving potential of control strategies

System Definition

System Energy Flow Analysis

Water Heater Control Volume

EHeater_Loss

EGas ERecirc_S

EDraw

ERecirc_R

ERecirc_Lo ss

EBranch_Loss

Monitoring Plan

Hot Water Supply Temperature

Recirculation Flow
Ambient Temperature Hot Water Return Temperature

Draw Flow
Gas consumption

Cold Water Temperature

DHW Distribution Configuration

CWS

HWR

HWS

Site #1 Sacramento, CA
Level 3 Level 2 Level 1

Site #2 San Francisco, CA

DHW System Energy Flow

Mechanical Room

Hot water return Hot water supply Branch Cold water supply

Water Heater Losses

Branch Recirculation Losses Loop Losses

End-Use Energy

30% 29%

1%

45%

40%

Distribution Losses

Distribution Losses

25%
30%

DHW System Performance Variation

0.6

50% 0.5
P e r c e n ta g e

49%

40% 0.4
0.3 30% 0.2 20% 0.1 10% 0

30% 20% 23%

Site #1 Site #2 Site #3 Site #4

2%

oss

EHeater_L ERecirc_Lo EBranch_LosEDraw

Water Heater Losses
ss

Recirculati Branch on Loop Losses Losses

Overall System Efficiency

Energy Consumption per Gallon of Hot Water Draw

2500 2000 Btu/gal 1500 1000 500 0
End-Use Energy Overall System Efficiency

Branch Losses Recirculation Loop Losses Water Heater Losses

Site #1

Site #2

Site #3

Site #4

DHW system controls

Pump Control
160 140 Temperature ( F) 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 0:00 4:00 8:00 12:00 16:00 20:00 21 18 15 Flow (gpm) 12 9 6 3 0 -3 0:00

Temperature Supply Control

Demand Control
160 140 Tem perature ( F) 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 0:00 4:00 8:00 12:00 16:00 20:00 21 18 15 12 9 6 3 0 -3 0:00 Flow (gpm )

Temperature Modulation

Timer

DHW system performance under Controls

16% 14% 12% 10% 8% 6% 4% 2% 0%
1

60%

59%
Demand Control Timer Temperature Modulation

50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0%

Gas Consumption Reduction normalized by gallon of water

Recirculation Loop Losses Reduction normalized by gallon of water

Site #2 SF, CA

Control Analysis
The key to energy savings
Reduce recirculation loop temperatures as much as possible The return portion of the recirculation loop doesnt need to be warm

Pump off Cold Recirculation loop

Pipe insulation can keep recirculation loop warm for extended period (~1hr) hot water draws will also help sustain recirc. loop temperatures
pump can be kept off periodically even during peak usage

A Better Control Strategy?

Turn on recirculation pump periodically (every 1-2 hr)

Modulate water heater temperature during off peak time

Hot Water Draw Study

Wide range of water usage per occupant Strong influence of weather on water usage No observation of obvious water usage increase under controls Analysis of hot water usage pattern to provide peak demand statistics to guide system and pipe sizing

Guideline for DHW System Design

Water heater/boiler efficiency is still the most important component to system efficiency
Proper system sizing will help to reduce standby and short-cycling losses

Distribution system design

Place recirc. loop through the middle of the building (this is the same concept as placing water heater near fixture

Control and monitoring

Even a simple temperature indicator on HW return can be very useful

Thank you!

Charlotte Bonneville Associate Project Manager HMG Main Office - Sacramento 11211 Gold Country Blvd., #103 Gold River, CA 95670 bonneville@h-m-g.com