Mass. Energy Upgrade That Includes Rinnai In Conflict
QUINCY,MA—
A disagreement between the housing authority and the city’s building and fire departments is holding up a $2.5 million federally funded heating upgrade for Quincy public housing.
The housing authority plans to replace hundreds of old steam radiators with gas-powered direct vent wall furnaces, similar to ones found in hotel rooms.
The wall heating systems are made by Rinnai America Corp. in Georgia. The housing authority wants to install them in 400 apartments at the Snug Harbor development in Germantown and 36 apartments at the West Acres development in West Quincy.
Jay Duca, Quincy’s inspectional services director, said he questions whether the heating units will provide enough heat for apartments.
“Wall furnaces are generally designed to heat one room or space,” Duca said. “(The housing authority is) proposing manual switches throughout the dwelling unit in order to heat the other rooms.”
Duca said the plans include installing wall fans and making other modifications so hot air can blow into other rooms.
The state Department of Housing and Community Development has approved the heating system, spokesman Phil Hailer said.
The $2.5 million is part of a $25 million federal stimulus package that the state is doling out for heating upgrades in public housing. Quincy’s authority is the first in the state to receive a share of the money, which has to be spent over the next two years.
Jay MacRitchie, director of the Quincy Housing Authority, said the buildings’ 60-year-old heating systems need to be replaced.
“As with any old heating system, the pipes are prone to leaks, they’re full of sludge from time to time and our boilers burn out very quickly,” he said. “(The state) is recognizing that the Quincy Housing Authority is due for a lot of upgrades, and they’re coming through with the money.”
MacRitchie said replacing boilers isn’t an option because the ones being sold today are too large for Snug Harbor.
MacRitchie said that wall furnaces are used effectively in New York housing and some already installed in Quincy apartments have been well received.
Duca said he allowed some wall units in Quincy public housing because of an immediate need. Some were installed without his permission, he said.
Duca said he has yet to see sufficient engineering data to show they will work. “… I’m not going to permit 400 of these and then find out it’s not going to work as designed,” he said.
In a letter to MacRitchie, Fire Chief Joseph Barron said that the proposed heating system is “rife with inadequacies. … In short, it is unlikely to provide the needed warmth required by a New England winter.”
MacRitchie said he’s optimistic he can address city officials’ concerns and get the work started.
“We certainly hope they’re going to conclude it’s a worthwhile program,” he said.
This is silly. We have had hundreds of Rinnai gas heaters installed in apartments in the Portland Maine area for over 10 years and they have been very efficient and much more comfortable than the previous system. These guys need to do a little homework and let this project move forward.