Do you Work for Taco?

BumbleBee circulator

I was traveling home to Long Island after a long week at Taco’s IDC training center in Rhode Island a while ago. This trip I was driving a SmartCar that had graphics showcasing the HEC-2 Bumblebee circulator since the circulator had just made its debut.

I often make plans to use a ferry from CT to Long Island to get home. So as we were loaded on the ferry that evening and I get out of the SmartCar; an engineer from the ship sees the car, the graphics, the Taco logo and me wearing a Taco jacket and asks “Do you work for Taco?”

I refrained from the obvious smart-alec response and said yes. He then asked if I would mind coming down to the engine room to take a look at a couple of heating pumps that were leaking. I could barely contain my excitement! I have been traveling on this ferry for years and have been dying to get below deck. It had been years since I was in an engine room on a ship so I think I was skipping behind the engineer as he led me there!

He shows me these 6 pumps that they use for heating different areas of the ship. They had to replace the seals almost every three months lately and wanted to know what they were doing wrong. He showed me the process they used, the spare parts…..and I couldn’t find anything wrong with what they were doing. So the two of us are staring at this wall of pumps wondering why the leaking. At this point, the ship was fully loaded and we were underway. I knew this not because I could look out a window, but the ship was moving a little bit due to the rough water conditions and then it dawned on me why these circs were now leaking at the seals.

So these particular pumps on the ship were our 1600 series circulators that have a mounting plate for the motor that was connected to the circulator. They didn’t need a base and there is no support needed; nor required for the motor. If you do, you will most likely have to replace the seals every three months. As I am explaining this to the engineer, he tells me that the motors have never been supported and it has been this way since they were installed over 30 years ago. So my suggestion was to replace these circs, repair was no longer an option. The engineer didn’t like this option, he wants to fix things, that’s his job and he loves to do it. However, these circs were not meant for his application!

Wait, What?! These were perfectly sized and did the job for the last 30 years. How could they not be good for this application? This jobsite is different compared to most others I have been to; as my coffee cup slid across the table we were sitting at. As I explained to the engineer, your boiler room pitches, rolls, and yaws! Those frames I was talking about were bent out of alignment causing the seals to fail prematurely. So changing these circs were inevitable.

He also mentioned that the power consumed by the ship in the winter was higher than what the shore power could supply due to the crew that would stay overnight and having to heat the ship without the engines running. Every few days, the breakers would trip and wanted to know if we could put in circulators that would consume less power. The solution to both of his problems was the VR15 circulators.

These circs would not only eliminate the frame mount as they are a direct mounted motor and circ, these are also ECM motors that could consume up to 85% less electricity but through the software,  we could also limit the maximum power consumed by the circ with a simple adjustment.

Remember, we are unique bunch of people. This is not only our job, it is our passion. My wife nailed it many years ago describing what I do for a living; “This is not what you do, it’s what you are!”

Yes, I work for Taco!

Enjoy.

Baseboard, Radiant, and Boilers, ….Oh My!

At our FloPro classes held at Taco in Cranston (http://flopro.taco-hvac.com/2015flopro_training.html) we ask what is the ONE thing you want to know about Taco, Hydronics, Life…before class starts. One recent question, which I have seen before, was “How is boiler sizing affected when you have a low temperature radiant floor heating system and a high temperature baseboard system with a modulating-condensing boiler?”

Well, the short answer to this question is; it doesn’t!

The long answer to this is; it depends. It depends on the best way to control and maximize the comfort in the home with the most economy of operation but the heat loss of the home IS the heat loss of the home. It won’t change based upon the type of heating system installed. That’s the beauty of Hydronic heating. We get to mix and match all types of heat emitters in one project and have a central boiler plant. Finned-tube baseboard, cast iron radiators, fan coils, radiant floors….

The first thing to look at is the controller and programming of the boiler along with how much baseboard is installed. Baseboard manufacturers will state how much BTU output you can get from a linear foot of the element based upon an AWT (average water temperature). Most will stop their charts at 140 degrees or at least “gray” them out. This gray area really says, if you are going to operate in this range, you better know what you are doing! I was working on a project with a friend of mine a while ago (https://dhblogtaco.wordpress.com/2012/12/18/ask-dave-fuelmizer/) where I was asked to size a new boiler for a replacement. We not only sized a smaller, more efficient heating appliance, we also lowered the supply water temperature.

Next, you need to take a look at how much baseboard is installed and compare it to the actual heat loss of the boiler, for example;

The heat loss of the house is 48,600 BTU’s/hr and you have a total of 110’ of baseboard on two zones; the math is easy to figure out what we need. 48,600/110 = 442. That number is the BTU output needed per linear foot to heat heat the house on a design day. So how do we get baseboard to do that? Simple, change the delivery water temperature to the baseboard. Take a look at the chart and we see the BTU output of 400 and 480 per linear foot. At 150 degree water, we are going to be a little cold in the house, at 160, we are a little higher than needed, but it is a lot lower than the 580 per foot.

So setting up the equipment, the maximum boiler water temperature needed when there is a demand for heat from the baseboard would be a maximum of 160F. This water temperature is a maximum temperature for the coldest design temp of the winter. With some of the modulating-condensing boilers, this can be programmed into the controls of the boiler. Use your design day temp, say 10 degrees outside and maximum water temp of 160. If your controller doesn’t have this capability, then using the FuelMizer or the PC-700 can accomplish this with relative ease. Why bother with this? Extra components, electronics, design time…….Well, by adding controls such as this, you can add quite a bit of comfort to the system as well as economy of operation. Longer run time of the equipment which eliminates some short cycling as well as fuel economy!

The radiant floor system will depend upon the installation method, floor coverings and heat loss. If your design water temperature is kinda close to the 160F mark (plus or minus 15F), then you are good to go. No other components or thoughts of the system are needed. Just consider the zone of radiant floor just like a zone of baseboard. However if the water temperature is a lot lower than 160 (and it typically is) then a mixing device will be needed to lower the temp like the i-Valve.

 

Enjoy and I’ll see ya out there!

 

 

Why, Why, Why

      A buddy of mine, Wayne, a contractor and HVAC instructor here on Long Island and I were having a conversation the other day and he asked why is Taco coming out with all of these new ECM motors? He understands that varying the speed of the circulator can save energy (fuel and electricity) and make homes more comfortable, but then again, the 007 ain’t broke and it has been doing a darn fine job since the 70’s and these new circs cost more.
Well, we (John Barba and I) have talked about the electrical and fuel savings that using a variable speed circulator can offer (see here and here). They show that the electrical savings of using a variable speed ECM motor is not tremendous and typically should not be sold or installed just for those merits if the homeowner is looking for HUGE electrical savings. Electrical savings are in the $15-20 a year per circulator over its 007 counterpart. ECM technology does use a lot less power to do the same amount of work, but it’s not life-changing savings.
So I asked Wayne, how many circs do you and your company change in a given winter? His average was around 150 total for 7 months. So if we take a look at that math, around $18 electrical savings per circ and with 150 circs, we have $2,700 in electrical savings. Think of the advertising that you can do. You saved your customers almost $3k in electrical costs in one year!

While we’re talking, what if another 10 companies that I can find here on the Island doing the same amount of replacements? Then we are saving Long Islanders around $27,000 in electrical costs alone from their heating systems. What if it was 100,000 circulators being replaced nationwide? Add in new installations also. That is some serious moolah there ……..$1.8 million.
Do you see where I am going here? ECM technology does good overall and if everyone were to switch, think of all electrical savings that could occur nationwide. Remember a few years ago when CFL bulbs came out? Lots of people thought they were a great idea, but the cost was so much higher than an incandescent bulb and lots of people just bypassed the purchase. It was savings, but it was not life-changing savings. Then the government got involved and as we see today, the incandescent bulb is setting-up like the way of the do-do bird! ECM technology is also being closely watched by the government (state and federal) as well as the electric companies. There will be a day that we will see the last “00” roll off the assembly line!
Now there is the other side of installing ECM variable speed circs like the 00-VDT, the BumbleBee, the VT-2218 and the VR-1816 (the two latter just unveiled at the AHR show in Chicago!) Stay tuned for future posts as I get into those benefits!

Enjoy! And I’ll see ya out there.

Tech Tips 2.0

Had to pull this out of the archives in my mind and I have had these questions presented to me over the years, just don’t remember where or when or who asked them. Anyway what sparked this was a question was on “The Wall” about sharing the same outdoor sensor on a Taco i-Valve and the boiler in the house. The boiler was already installed and the addition of the i-Valve was designed and selected for a new radiant floor zone in the home.

Can you use the same sensor for both components, i.e. just split the wire in the mechanical room and connect to the boiler and the Taco iSeries Mixing Valve?
Before this gets answered, we need to find out how or what these sensors are. Temperature sensors that we use in hydronic heating systems (outdoor air sensors, water temperature sensors) are thermistors.
The Definition:
Thermistors are thermally sensitive resistors whose prime function is to exhibit a large, predictable and precise change in electrical resistance when subjected to a corresponding change in temperature.
So, as the temperature the thermistor reads raises, there is less electrical resistance in the thermistor; when the temperature gets colder, the resistance goes up. There is a small amout of voltage applied to the sensor wires and the resistance across those wires changes as the temperature changes. We can read this in ohms.

If you were to put two sensors to the same terminals, you would cut in half (be doubling) the electrical resistance therefor affecting the ohm reading and the wrong information would be sent to the controller.
If we look at the following chart (this comes with all controllers that have any temperature sensors),

if there is a sensor outside and the outside air temp is 60F, the controller would internally read a resistance of 15,500 ohms. But since two sensors are tied together, halving (doubling) the resistance, the controller would actually read 7,300 ohms. (30,622 ohms.) Based on the charts, the controller would think it is around 90F outside. (35F outside.) The decisions the controller would make would be wrong and can create havoc when trying to troubleshoot or dial the system in therefor losing efficiency and comfort and all control with that component.

(Author edit: My brain was going faster than my typing and I made some errors when this was initially posted. The strikethroughs were the previous numbers. In order to double the resistance, the sensors would be wired in series. Our example is wired in parallel. Thank to my bud Tim Doran <fellow colleague and Long Islander> for pointing out my error)

A second tech tip I ran into recently in my own home. I had my cousin (a licensed electrician) come to my house to help with the remodel I have going on. As he was working in the electrical
panel, I noticed he was keeping 4-5” pieces of the romex outer jacket in a pile near him.

When I leaned in closer to see what he was doing, he would write on the jacket and slide it over the wire before attaching to the breaker. Yes he does label the main panel cover for each breaker, but I thought this was a great idea for me to use.
That day, I was doing the low voltage wiring for my heating system, running thermostat wires. I have seen plenty of projects where trying to label
the large array of wires coming to a ZVC or SR panel as daunting and challenging to keep it neat. Using ductape and a marker, the number sticker labels (which still needs a legend), a label printer are options available, but when we are trying to our best work, this sometimes can get sloppy.

Well here is a just another option, and it can never fall off.

That’s it for now,
Enjoy!

Blocking and Tackling

I was looking at the X-Pump Block for a customer that wanted to install this 

with a new domestic water heater with side taps for a radiant floor heating system. I understand the concept but the design procedure I didn’t understand fully. Here’s the application, 50,000 btu radiant floor in a concrete slab, 5 loops at 275 ft per loop. I looked at the x block and when I came to the btu capacity that’s when I got confused. I’m looking for a good explanation of how the btu compacity works. – George from NJ
George,

When using an X-Pump Block (XPB), since there is a heat exchanger built in, you want to make sure it is the properly sized.

You need to know several numbers first; the water temperature of the radiant floor and the available water temperature of the heat source.

For example if your radiant floor design temp was 110 degrees F with a 10 degree Delta T, we would look at the chart on page 3 of the instructions and then see the amount of BTU’s we could deliver at different heat source temperatures. Based upon the BTU load of your project at 50,000 BTU’s, the XPB cannot work for this application when we use a 10 degree delta T across the radiant floor.

However, if we increase the Delta T across the system, we would use chart 2 on page 3 and looking at the BTU requirements, we can see that it will work. The minimum temperature required from the heat source will be 140 degrees. If you have a higher temperature available, you are still maxed out at the 59,700 BTU’s that you can deliver to the system because of the size of the built in heat exchanger.

But we are not done yet with sizing the XPB, we need to verify that the circulators that are integral will be enough to handle your needs. When we use the universal hydronic formula; GPM=BTUh/(DeltaT x 500) so we can get the flow rate needed.

So let’s put in the numbers we do know;

GPM=50,000/((110-90)x500)

and we get 5 gallons per minute. Based upon the information you gave me, we need to find the head loss and if I were to look at a pressure drop chart for ½” PEX, and the 1 gpm per loop row (five gpm’s total and you have 5 loops…..so 1 gpm per loop). Doing the math and using the chart reveals 1.70 psi pressure drop per 100 feet of pipe. Take a look at the bottom of the chart to convert to foot of head so, (1.7 psi/2.31 FOH) times 2.75 feet equals 2.04 foot of head.

So we now take those numbers, 5 gallons per minute and 2.04 foot of head loss, plot it on the curve and we can see that the circulator built into the X-Pump Block is in fact large enough to handle the radiant project you have.

Courtesy Forbes Plumbing, Alan Forbes

Now I know I took some liberties here and made some assumptions when doing the math, so if your numbers are different, apply accordingly. I hope this helps when it comes to sizing and selecting the X-Pump Block for your radiant projects.

As always, Enjoy and keep ‘em coming!

Set it and Forget it – part 2

This blog post is part 2 from homeowner Chris in CT about his brand new heating system. In part 1 (which you can read here), Chris had questions about the new FuelMizer installed and this post has questions regarding the Taco BumbleBee circulator, HEC-2.

1) I understand the BumbleBee comes from the factory with Delta T mode as default. Is this mode ‘locked’ into the circulator from the factory? In other words, if we have a power surge for blackout, will I need to redo any programming?

A: Chris, the BumbleBee circulator default setting is in the Delta T mode and the Delta T temperature is also defaulted to 20 degrees F. The Delta T setting is based upon the heat emitters that you have, if it is finned tube baseboard, this setting is perfect. It is adjustable based upon the type of heat installed in the home from 5 to 50 degrees. Do not worry about having to reprogram the BumbleBee in the event of a power outage. The 120 volt power disconnects from the circulator everytime the need for heat stops from the SR switching relay.

The other modes of the the BumbleBee are Constant Power and Setpoint. Constant Power lets you adjust it to one of 4 fixed speeds (like for an Indirect hot water tank where varying the speed does not help you get hot water but hinder it). Setpoint uses just one sensor on the supply side and it will maintain that water temperature by varying the speed of the circulator if you were using say an injection pumping system. To see how to change the operation look here or here.

2) My HVAC crew left the Delta T temperature at the default 20 degree temp differential. Do you feel this is good to start with? Should I/they bother tinkering with it given my equipment, house and locale (CT)?

A: Good to go, I would leave this setting where it is. 20 degrees F is best for a finned tube baseboard application based upon the majority of baseboard manufacturers. If this was a radiant floor system, you could set the Delta T to 10 degrees and if it was a radiator system like panel rads or cast iron rads, then 30 degrees is a good Delta T for optimum comfort and economy of operation.

3) OK, one more question and then I’m done! 🙂  My last question has to do with sensors. Between the BumbleBee and FuelMizer, there are 2 sensors on the supply side and 1 on the return side. The team was good in properly wrapping the sensors with pipe foam (insulation). I just want to make sure the crew used the correct sensors on the right equipment.

 a) On the supply side, the Taco 9300-2051 sensor was used for the Fuelmizer, with the 9300-2044 sensor was used for the BumbleBee (also supply side).

 b) On the return side, the 9300-2051 sensor was used for the BumbleBee.

When I saw the different part numbers I got a little concerned, and I think the Fuelmizer instructions advise the 9300-2044 sensor should be used. Should I change the wiring around or leave things as is?

A: All of the sensors are identical in operation and scale. They are thermistors and the resistance through the sensor changes as the temperature it is reading changes. The different part numbers represent different lengths of wire attached to the thermistor. Taco designs all of the electronics that need a sensor to the same thermistor scale so that they can be interchangeable not matter what the component is.

Thanks for your time in answering these questions for a home owner who wants to understand the system that was just installed! 🙂 It’s terrific that you guys are right in Rhode Island and even better that Taco is really thinking about ‘green’ equipment that will move us forward in saving energy/fuel.

                A: Enjoy your new system, it sounds and looks like your installers did an outstanding job!! 

Thanks everyone who has asked questions to share on Ask Dave! this past year. Remember to keep ’em coming and I look forward to seeing you out there in 2014!

Enjoy!

Inquiring minds want to know – part 1

As technology is expanding and growing in the home, it is also showing up in the mechanical rooms today and hydronics can be intimidating to a homeowner. Chris in CT, a homeowner, contacted me and had some questions for Ask Dave! Let your customers know what to expect when it comes to the latest and greatest that you are installing.

 Hi Dave!

I am the owner of a brand new oil-based heating system that was installed September 2013. The most exciting products of the system are the FuelMizer and BumbleBee circulator, both of which I asked for. I also have the Taco Sentry valves installed, but those aren’t as fun to watch operating!

 I actually watched the “Taco World” video and browsed your website extensively before making a decision to go with these products. I just wanted to say a huge THANK YOU for having such great documentation/videos on your website. You have no idea how helpful that is to both folks in the trade AND to home owners trying to understand the benefits to these products. (If you missed TacoWorld, watch it here)

 First, I realize that messing/tinkering with things should be left to the pros, but I also want to make sure I understand the system well enough in the event I ever run into issues.

 Second, I did have a number of questions about the Fuelmizer and Bumblebee (awesome name by the way!). My HVAC company did a great job on the install, but I like to understand the work performed.

 I’ll list these questions by product:

Fuelmizer:

 1) The TSTAT light is blinking Red — does this mean the Fuelmizer lost signal with the external TSTAT? Todays temp is 75F outside. 

Answer: The blinking LED Tstat is informing you that the system is in Warm Weather Shutdown (WWSD). This means on warm days outside, even if someone inadvertently set the thermostat to a high heating temperature, that nothing will happen except for operation of the hot water tank. This prevents a waste of energy because on those days where it is nice outside and some windows are open that the heating system stays off.

2) The crew set the Fuelmizer to 10 degrees for now — does this sound like a reasonable ODT to start with? I realize there is a LOT of data that goes into calculating this. To be brief, my house is a 1967 Raised Ranch approximately 2000 sq ft. Original insulation (in other words, not much! haha I do have about a foot of insulation in the attic), and also new windows.

Answer: The outside design temperature (ODT) is the coldest temperature typically reached in your area of Connecticut. This maintains also the best control of the water temperature based upon any outside temperature. (Take a look here or here for a deeper explanation)

3) As an FYI, we left Dipswitch 1 “ON” for the 140 minimum temp, which sounded reasonable to me.

Answer: 140 degrees F is the minimum temperature typically determined upon the type of boiler that is installed. Based upon the boiler and oil as your fuel source, this is where it should be.

Thanks Chris, enjoy your new heating system as the colder temps are rapidly approaching. Next time I will revisit Chris’ questions for the BumbleBee.

Enjoy!

Tech Tips

Has it been over a month since my last post? Needless to say, I have been busier than a beekeeper at the Rose Bowl Parade meeting tons of you guys at the Factory!

Since I have been doing a lot of training classes and meeting you out there; you have shared your job-site experiences with me. I figured I would answer a couple of situations that have come up in your customers mechanical rooms.

First situation brought to my attention is about the Zone Sentry zone valve. A few people have questioned if we at Taco are experiencing quality issues in the power head, more specifically the manual override dial. I hadn’t heard of any QC issues, so I asked further; “How did it break? Was it that way when you took it out of the box?”

It appears to happen on startup of the system, more specifically when purging the system. Hmmmm, I think I am beginning to understand!

Then what did you do? “I would try to turn the manual override dial to allow flow, but it was dang too hard to turn! So I noticed a slot on the manual override dial that looks like it was designed for a screwdriver, so I used one and …..viola! It opened and I broke the dial!” I know what you are talking about, I got a couple of samples in my garage and was building a display and almost experienced the same thing, man this valve is hard to turn and then it occurred to me, it is a ball valve, not the motors fault. Ball valves when they are brand new are freakin’ tight, doesn’t matter who makes them. That initial turn of the handle is hard to do, but then it becomes easy after that.

Well, it’s the same thing with the Zone Sentry. The valve body is a ball valve and the override dial is gonna be tough to turn the first time! So what do we do about it? Keep using a screw driver and breaking it? No way. Here are two methods to make it easy;

First, when getting ready to install in the system whether it is a sweat or thread model, remove the motor by pressing in on the release mechanism (you were gonna do that anyway!)

 

Don’t take it all the way off, just clear the locking posts but keep the motor engaged on the valve stem.

Then, rotate the motor and “break” the seal of the ball valve.

Continue with what you were going to do. Finish up the system, and when ready to start purging the system, you can now easily turn that valve with your fingers.

Of course there is a much easier way! Wire it up to a Zone Valve Controller and make the associated zone valve open using an STS (Sophisticated Thermostat Simulator). The Zone Sentry motor has more than enough umph to “break” the ball valve when power is applied.

Enjoy!

To Flange or not to Flange

I know it’s been a while since I have written anything, been a very busy couple of months. We have had a ton of people coming down to Headquarters in Cranston. If you haven’t been down in a while or never have; please come check us out.

Anyway, getting back to a new Ask Dave! Post and I have a few people ask a question along this line;

Hey Dave, I want to start offering Domestic Hot Water Recirculation to my customers and there are a lot of different options, especially when it comes to connection styles. Which would be the best?

There are tons of options to the connection style so that we can meet the needs of everyone out there. Everyone has their own personal style and comfort when it comes to connections.

Here is what is currently offered by Taco:

½” Sweat,

¾” Sweat,

¾” FNPT,

Flanged,

And Union.

The main reason for all of these styles, Taco doesn’t want to limit you and since we manufacture right here in Cranston, RI, we get the chance to cater to you instead of telling you how you are going perform each installation. Each home is different, each customer is different, and therefore their mechanical requirements may be different. Now all of these connection styles may seem like a pain in the butt, but the beauty is that no matter which one is installed and a repair may be needed, you can always replace the motor and/or cartridge as long as the same motor size is used. The 4 bolts holding the motor to the casting line up exactly the same. So if you went to a customer’s home that the DHW recirculation pump was not working properly and you found that there was a union connection pump installed. All you had was a ½” sweat model with you, you could leave the existing casting in place and replace the motor, cartridge and impeller and get back up and running in no time.

Another great feature to this way of manufacturing is when we at Taco come out with a new model with enhanced features like the SmartPlus and you have a bunch of Plumb n’ Plugs  installed and would like to offer these new features, same thing would occur as before and you could leave your wrenches and torch in the truck.

While we are at it, what do you think about the different connection methods we offer?

What’s your preferred way? Check out this survey and let me know. I’m curious as to the most popular. Follow the link and it will only take a couple of seconds (clicks). Thanks and Keep ‘em coming.

Enjoy

Real Savings

In my last blog I was talking about switching car insurance carriers so that I can continue to get savings where eventually if I switch enough, I should be able to get my insurance for free! I know that won’t happen and honestly, I don’t have the time, energy or desire to get that savings. It may seem like a lot of work for little rewards. Do people really spend the time doing it?

Should this line of thought apply to the mechanicals in a home heating and plumbing system? Do homeowners really want to spend the money for an upgrade or addition to their system for the savings? As long as it is explained to them the future savings and not as a return on investment, they very well may. A mechanical system should not be looked at as an ROI.  It provides a function and serves a purpose and the end result is providing comfort. There can be ways that we can provide better comfort along with greater savings.

Let’s take a look at what the SmartPlus Domestic Hot Water recirculation system can provide in the way of savings.

The first thing the SmartPlus does is provide hot water at the fixtures when you want it. That’s both comfort and convenience – you won’t have to wait for the cold water to dump out of the associated piping. John Barba just performed a webinar on that very topic (watch it here). However, there can be real savings and I am going to apply it to my own home. I am in the process of installing one in my house and for the next 12 months I will watch the numbers. Just to compare, here’s a look at my last 12 months of water bills:

Month	Gallons	Bill
February	18,640	47
May	21,527	51
September	54,911	101
November	16,172	43
February	16,351	42
Total	127,601	$284

Water on Long Island is not too expensive and I do not pay for sewage costs, since most of us have cesspools. Consider those savings for your own home or customers’ homes.

So let’s take a look at the numbers. My total gallon-usage for the 12-month period was 127,601 gallons. The U.S Department of Energy says effective hot water recirculation can save on average roughly 12,000 gallons a year.  Using that number, if I had a SmartPlus last year my actual usage would have dropped to around 115,000 gallons – a savings of 10%.

So, 10% savings in water usage!  If I apply that 10% to my water bill, that works out to be $28 a year in savings. Apply that across each bill and I can roughly save about 6 bucks every couple of months, now I can get that extra Starbucks I was longing for!

But hey, now there is a new electrical appliance in use and let’s consider the electrical costs that will be added monthly. If I have 2 “events” a day recorded in the brain of the SmartPlus, each event lasting 30 minutes; we end up with 5 hours of operation (one hour before, during, and after). The pump runs 2.5 minutes every 10 minutes for a total of 75 minutes a day.

450 hours of runtime per year
59.8 watts / 1000 kilowatts =	.0598 kw
.0598 x 450 hours =	26.91 kW-hours
0.22cents per kW-hour (Long Island Rates)
0.22 x 26.91=	$5.92 per year

Apply that to the example and it costs $1.18 per pay period.

So, with the SmartPlus, there may not be exorbitant savings to consider it a ROI, but it will give that extra comfort and convenience someone really wants!

Stick around as next the next entry will consider other savings associated with the SmartPlus!

Enjoy