The Watermark at 3030 Park in Bridgeport, Connecticut is an incredible Retirement Community located on a 14-acre campus in Fairfield County. With a new $47M state of the art health center, a large modern dining facility, and an active wellness center, this campus redefines senior living. The beautiful facility of The Watermark at 3030 Park is one of the most sought-after retirement communities in the area.
The Watermark at 3030 Park is part of a larger company, Watermark Retirement Communities, that was founded twenty-eight years ago in Tucson, AZ and now includes thirty-three facilities nationwide. As industry leaders, the company has received numerous peer awards and has pioneered exciting initiatives and services that are revolutionizing elder living.
The Watermark was in desperate need of a new heating plant, so a local contractor company was hired to execute a turnkey project to remove the old boilers and design & install new boilers.
The facility currently contained three old, large horizontal firetube steam boilers. Each was gas-fired with an input of 14,215 MBH for a total of 42,645 MBH. Two of the boilers were removed, with the third left in place during the new installation for domestic hot water purposes via an indirect heat exchanger. This third boiler has since been taken offline and will be removed later.
The new heating plant consists of eight Triad Series 1600 Low Pressure Steam boilers firing natural gas at 1,700 MBH. The Triads are being controlled by a heat timer, which has proven to be a very efficient solution.
Two of the eight 1600 steam Triad boilers are being used for domestic hot water through the heat exchanger. This means that one or two 1,700 MBH boilers will handle domestic hot water, depending on the need, versus previously where one large 14,215 MBH boiler was required. They also had to remove one of the two 1,000-gallon tanks due to leaking. The contractor calculated that only one was required to carry the load—which has proven. For domestic hot water, the load is being carried with a total of 3400 MBH with one 1000-gallon tank that formerly used 14,200 MBH with two tanks totaling 2000 gallons.
Shortly after the boilers were installed in 2013, and before the heating season was in full swing, the Watermark’s gas bill for domestic hot water usage was down 50%.