Heat Loss Survey

A few years back, a very good customer asked Thermaxx and our partners at MIDCO insulation to perform an insulation audit in multiple manholes on a line running through a busy urban area. The customer expressed some apprehension and frustration because previous attempts at insulating these lines were unsuccessful, as the insulation quickly degraded. Read more.

Recently we were asked to perform a survey for a large property management firm in New York City. This had not been the first time we provided this company with insulation surveys and we hoped that we would be awarded the project. Even though we were able to show the client the benefits of using traditional fiberglass on straight runs of pipe and custom jackets on serviceable components, we did not “win” the job. So I asked my contact to address the objection to our quote and recommended solution. I was told that this is an issue with the onsite engineers. “They don’t believe jackets are worth it!”

The Crosby Building, located in the heart of San Francisco’s Tenderloin, is a low income multi–family building master leased and managed by Episcopal Community Services (ECS). ECS is San Francisco’s largest, most comprehensive provider of services and supportive housing and a leader in San Francisco’s plan to create more supportive housing for homeless individuals and families. Maggie Holmes, in charge of master leased operations for ECS, along with Devon Berry, Energy Efficiency Specialist of the San Francisco Department of the Environment, reached out to Thermaxx and Lovelight Solutions to help make the building more energy efficient.

Industrial pipes, or process piping, is typically used to transport water, steam, and other gases & liquids of varying temperatures. The term “process piping” generally refers to the system of pipes that transport process fluids (e.g., air, steam, water, industrial gases, fuels, chemicals) around an industrial facility to be converted into a usable product. Industrial pipes also include plumbing systems that carry liquids and gases used for heating and cooling processes, or pipework that leads to plumbing fixtures or waste-water systems. These industrial pipes are generally made of steel, cast iron, copper, or specialty metals in certain highly aggressive environments. Read more.

Located in Washington D.C. is a non-profit hospital licensed by the District of Columbia Department of Health and Human Services. The hospital specializes in surgery, orthopedics, and oncology services. The hospital’s energy management team is responsible for the utility spend and construction projects for the hospital, while driving energy saving projects in an effort to reduce operating costs.

On December 28, 2009, New York City enacted a new law requiring energy audits and retro-commissioning of many buildings — local law 87. Local law 87 requires many large buildings to “undergo an energy audit every ten years, along with retro-commissioning, to “tune up” the building’s existing systems and ensure efficient operation…”More

The Garfield Building in San Francisco, located in the heart of the theater district, is a beautiful 28 unit building built by the Reid Brothers in 1908, and the infrastructure was totally gutted and remodeled in 2008. Dave Pritchard, the Garfield’s HOA President, reached out to ThermaXX in the Spring of 2018. Dave was passionately looking at all possible ways to become more energy efficient, and wanted to look at the potential cost effectiveness of techniques he had seen used commercially in the petrochemical and pharmaceutical industry applied in a residential application. Read more.

A hot boiler room creates many problems. Typically, the ceiling of a boiler room is the bottom of the floor directly above and because heat rises the ceiling area is hot, extremely hot. Many times, we see temperatures exceeding 115°F! The floor above the boiler room radiates heat into the occupied space causing an unanticipated load on the cooling system. The space is so uncomfortable that windows are opened in the winter time wasting more heat. Read more.

It’s difficult to make the decision between purchasing hot or cold removable insulation materials without truly knowing both sides of the story. Both forms of insulation materials are going to save you money in the end, but it is vital to determine which is the most practical and cost effective for your piping system.

There are questions that need to be asked when choosing insulation. At the top of this decision tree is the most important: is the equipment or piping that we are insulating hot or cold? Once this question is answered the next question is: interior or exterior? The answer to these two questions will jump start the decision process when choosing an insulation…More

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Many industrial facilities have steam pipes throughout their infrastructure regardless if the facility is a university or a manufacturing plant. Therefore, measuring varying degrees of heat loss is important to save money and protect your steam pipes with removable insulation covers.

Understanding how to calculate heat loss is the first step towards realizing the overall benefit removable insulation can have on your steam pipes and overall facility…More