Physically located just a few miles inland from the eastern banks of Lake Ontario, where some of the heaviest snowfalls on record in the U.S. have occurred, the people of Pulaski, New York, know a thing or two about the importance of heavy-duty heating systems engineered for the long haul.
That’s why when they needed to replace the aging boilers at their local middle- senior high school as part of a major infrastructure upgrade (beginning in 2010 and ending in February of 2016), they chose to install Fulton boilers.
The person principally in charge of making this decision was Paul Etz, the Director of Facilities for Pulaski Central School District for the past 15 years. Working in consultation with IPD Engineering and sales representatives from Modular Comfort Systems – both of Syracuse, NY – Paul replaced the middle-senior high school boilers with Fulton Vantage (VTG) and Endura (EDR) high-efficiency condensing boilers in each of two separate boiler rooms that service opposite ends of the school.
Condensing, Energy Efficient
At the backside of the middle-high school, two 4,000,000 BTU/hr (4MM) Vantages were installed to heat a newly added middle school and gymnasium.
The main boiler plant of the middle-senior high school was upgraded with six 1MM EDRs
As Paul explains, “When we added a wing for the middle school and added a new gym, the existing heat plant didn’t have enough load capacity to service that square footage, so we added a second boiler room under the new gym to heat all of that new area.”
Then the main boiler plant of the middle-senior high school was upgraded with six 1MM EDRs. These heat the front portion of the building – a larger square footage area than what the Vantage boilers heat.
Fulton condensing boilers
The Fulton Vantage and Endura hydronic boilers, as fully condensing boilers, achieve ultra-high thermal efficiencies – up to 99% – by recovering the energy produced by the condensation of water vapor in their flue gases (the “latent heat” of vaporization).
Both boilers were also designed for variable primary. This is a simplified piping method that maximizes efficiencies, reduces design complexity, and enhances temperature control by delivering the lowest temperature water directly to the boiler.
Modulating, Energy Efficient
Both sets of Vantage and Endura boilers were also installed with their own fully integrated ModSync® Sequencing System.
ModSync automatically modulates the boilers to match their combined system load as determined by the outside air
In addition to providing a touchscreen interface to display important status information, the ModSync automatically modulates the boilers to match their combined system load as determined by the outside air temperature, which can vary widely depending on shoulder versus peak seasons.
The ModSync enables greater efficiencies by increasing the total system turndown ratio – thus better matching a given load with the capacity that each boiler was designed for – as well as eliminating standby energy waste and increasing boiler life expectancy.
Robust and Reliable
Having gone through two full heating seasons with the Endura boilers, Paul and his staff at Pulaski Central Schools had nothing but good things to say about them. “With the Endura's, so far, so good,” said Paul. “They’ve been pretty much bulletproof. I’ve had zero problems with them.”
Same with the Vantages. “In the years that we’ve had them, said Paul, “I can count on one hand how many times they’ve needed any attention. And we’ve had the Vantages three times longer than the Enduras. They’ve been great.” Paul bought the Endura's for Pulaski Schools because he is so happy with the Vantages — and knowing that Fulton backs its products.
Another big thing that Paul likes about the Endura boilers is that he can stand right next to them with another employee and have a conversation without having to raise his voice. “They’re so quiet, you don’t even hear them when they’re running,” said Paul.
Service Excellence
If Pulaski Central School do have a question or concern, they can call Modular Comfort Systems or Fulton directly
Pulaski Central Schools has been very happy with not only the quality of the Fulton equipment that they’re using but with the service support they have should the need for service arise. If they do have a question or concern, they can call Modular Comfort Systems or Fulton directly and get a quick answer by talking to someone in their service departments.
“I’ve called Fulton’s service department for minor issues,” said Paul, “and their service has been great. If they can answer our questions over the phone, they’re more than happy to.”
Overall Excellence
The six EDR boilers at Pulaski Middle-High School were installed to replace another Fulton product—the Pulse boiler. The school already had 20 years of operator service out of the Pulse boilers and, through a capital improvement plan, they had the money to replace them, so they did.
Because of their great track record with Pulse, the school decided to stick with Fulton. This story is common: Fulton boilers will get one through and beyond the bond period of the next capital improvement project so that the school district doesn’t have to worry about being surprised with unforeseen boiler replacement costs.
Customers can replace their boiler plant when they are ready rather than being forced to replace it because of the heat exchanger or other catastrophic failures.
