When a luxury hotel in the heart of the nation’s capital (complete with 838 rooms and suites, a pool, sauna, and fitness center) begins to experience problems with their Carter-era equipment, they look no further than Sam DeSanto Co. As the representative for AERCO International, we were able to provide the Hyatt Regency with a solution that replaced their failing system. Guests would no longer be without hot water, and the system would now operate at better than 50% efficiency.
The old firetube boilers from the 1970s operated at 50-60% efficiency and consumed a whopping 270,000 therms. Natural gas for the boilers alone cost the hotel over $300,000 annually, and maintenance was another $30,000! Once SDCI and AERCO stepped in to demonstrate the benefits of AERCO Benchmark boilers and SmartPlate water heaters, as well as the energy savings and ROI, administration happily went with our solution.
The recommendation that we made to the hotel was to install nine Benchmark 3000 units and three SmartPlate DW113 units. The Benchmark units would provide space heating, while the SmartPlates would handle the domestic hot water load. AERCO’s offering of 15:1 turndown in their Benchmark boilers translated to an increase in seasonal efficiency thanks to more precise control and load matching, and onAER Remote Monitoring provided easy monitoring and management of the nine boilers.
And the investment paid off. Within the first year, Hyatt Regency reported a savings of 26% in fuel bills. Maintenance costs reduced by 65%. Annual savings added up to over $100,000, and the return on investment is estimated at under three years. Thanks to AERCO and Sam DeSanto Co., this hotel is enjoying greater reliability and more energy savings.