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Issue 04 is here and the message this month is simple: heating season is coming and the time to get ready is now, not in October. We have a pre-season checklist, a new Wilo product worth knowing about, a new face to introduce, and the usual mix of industry content and bad jokes. Thanks for reading.
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Featured Article
GP Energy Products • Fall Startup Campaign
The commercial boiler pre-season startup checklist: what to verify before heating season begins.
October is not the time to find out your boiler has a problem. By October the heating season has started, the service schedule is filling up, and the options for addressing a problem narrow significantly when the building needs heat. The facility managers who avoid that situation are the ones who scheduled their pre-season inspection in August.
This checklist covers burner and combustion, safety controls, heat transfer surfaces, breeching, water treatment, expansion tank, and controls. Every item is manageable in August. Some of them become emergencies in October.
Read the Full Checklist →
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From the Brands
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GP Energy Products
How to read a boiler efficiency rating and what it actually means for your facility.
Combustion efficiency, thermal efficiency, and seasonal efficiency measure different things. The number on the spec sheet and the number on the fuel bill are not always the same.
Read More →
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Merion Pump
Two new Wilo products now available: the Stratos MAXO-Z and the MVI.
The Stratos MAXO-Z for domestic hot water recirculation with constant temperature control. The MVI for high-pressure multistage applications up to 750 GPM and 980 feet of head.
Read More →
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HX Coils
The complete guide to steam coil selection, freeze protection, and vacuum breaker specification.
Steam coil freeze damage is one of the most expensive and most preventable failures in commercial HVAC. Everything you need to know to prevent it in one place.
Read More →
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FabPro Systems
What the FabPro factory testing process actually looks like.
Factory tested means something specific at FabPro. Pressure tested. Laser aligned. Controls verified. Electrically signed off. Run tested. Documented. Then it ships.
Read More →
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Ask the Team
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Q
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We had a boiler failure last February that cost us significantly in emergency repairs and lost production. What should we be doing differently to avoid that this year?
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A
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The short answer is scheduling. A boiler that receives a thorough pre-season inspection in August has a fundamentally different risk profile than one that gets examined for the first time when something goes wrong in February. Most of the failures that produce emergency service calls in the middle of heating season were developing for months before they became visible.
Pre-season inspection covers the things that fail quietly. Combustion that has drifted out of tune since last season. Safety controls that have not been tested and documented since the year before. Heat transfer surfaces with scale or deposits that reduce efficiency and create hot spots. Water chemistry that has shifted over the summer. An expansion tank that has been slowly losing its pre-charge. None of these announce themselves until they become a problem.
The second piece is documentation. ASME CSD-1 requires safety control testing to be documented at defined intervals. Facilities that keep current test records are not just more compliant, they are better positioned to identify drift before it becomes failure. If your safety control records are more than a year old, that is the first thing to address.
We have availability for pre-season inspections now across Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland. August is the right time. Reach out to the GP Energy team and we will get it scheduled.
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Product of the Month
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Wilo Stratos MAXO-Z
High-efficiency wet rotor circulator for domestic hot water recirculation • Available through Merion Pump
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Control Function
T-const. maintains constant loop temperature continuously. Adjusts pump operating point in response to actual demand.
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Hygiene Monitoring
Thermal disinfection detection monitors for Legionella risk conditions and flags when disinfection may be required.
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Construction
Stainless steel pump housing • 145 PSI max operating pressure • 1.25 to 3-inch flange connections
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Connectivity
Bluetooth • Modbus RTU • BACnet MS/TP via CIF module • Wilo Net for multi-pump coordination
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Best Application
Hotels, hospitals, multifamily residential, healthcare facilities where domestic hot water hygiene is a regulatory requirement
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Available Through
Merion Pump Company • merionpump.com
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Code and Standards Update
ASHRAE 188
Legionella risk management in building water systems and what it means for domestic hot water recirculation.
ASHRAE Standard 188, Legionellosis Risk Management for Building Water Systems, establishes the minimum requirements for a water management program in commercial buildings. Covered buildings include hotels, healthcare facilities, large office buildings, and multifamily residential above a certain threshold. The standard requires a written water management plan, hazard analysis, control measures, and monitoring documentation.
For domestic hot water recirculation systems, maintaining consistent water temperatures above 122 degrees Fahrenheit throughout the distribution loop is a primary control measure. Recirculation pumps that maintain consistent temperature rather than running on a fixed schedule reduce the temperature variations that create Legionella growth risk. The Wilo Stratos MAXO-Z T-const. control function and thermal disinfection detection capability are directly relevant to ASHRAE 188 compliance for buildings with domestic hot water recirculation systems.
Source: ASHRAE Standard 188, Legionellosis Risk Management for Building Water Systems • ashrae.org • Verify applicability and current edition with your water management program consultant.
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From the Field
The service schedule fills up fast. August is the window.
Every year the pattern is the same. Facilities that call in August get their choice of inspection dates, their findings addressed before heating season, and their boiler plant ready before the first cold snap. Facilities that call in September are competing with everyone else who also waited. Facilities that call in October are already behind. The GP Energy and Merion Pump teams have availability now. If a pre-season inspection or pump system check is on the list, the time to schedule it is this week.
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We're Hiring
Know someone who belongs on this team?
GP Energy Products Group is growing. If you know someone with the right background for commercial and industrial boiler service, repair, or technical sales, we would appreciate the introduction. Current openings are listed at the link below.
View Open Positions →
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Meet the Team
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Eli Weikert
Sales Associate • GP Energy Products Group
Eli joined GP Energy Products Group in June 2020 straight out of Penn State, making this his first job out of college. He covers the Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey territory, working primarily with contractors and engineers across all four brands, with his strongest recent results coming from pumps and coils.
Ask Eli what surprised him most about the role and he will tell you how much knowledge it actually takes to do it well. The product lines are technical, the customers rely on the team for real answers, and he will be the first to tell you he is still learning. That kind of honesty is exactly what earns customer trust over time. His first coil order, a $2,840 PO that arrived the week after he sent the quote, is the win he points to. Not the biggest number, but the one that made it real.
When Eli is not working the Philadelphia territory, you will find him on the Margate beaches, a cold beverage in hand, dinner at Tomatoes or Tideline, and at least one Philly sports team giving him something to yell about. He also wants it on record: shoutout to Luis Arraez.
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