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Valley heats up

Page history last edited by Mrs. K. 14 years, 5 months ago

 

Valley heats up

By: Kenzie N

If you were to venture into Valley Schools anytime this fall you would notice two things. First, you would notice that almost all students’ attire consists of jeans, and layers of clothing including a sweatshirt or jacket. And second, you would hear a continuous clanking, sawing, and hammering, coming from one or multiple classrooms. What is the cause of this unusual pre-winter attire and unnecessary noise?  The answer is the school’s new renovation project consisting of a new heating system and new heaters in all of the classrooms.

            The school board decided that the 1957 boiler the school was using, along with the thirty-year-old updated boiler, should be replaced. The old boilers that heated the school were low pressure steam boilers. These boilers were considered to be efficient in heating a school the size of Valley, however, these boilers were simply out of date and needed replacing.

            There were a number of different options to consider when thinking about updating the heating plant. The most popular option was a geothermal ground source heat system. Engineers that have worked with Valley before said that type of system is good for new building construction, but when updating an existing building it doesn’t work out quite as well. A huge drawback to geothermal is how to justify the cost of hooking up the system to Valley’s old building system already in place. Even though geothermal is said to be one of the most efficient systems, it wouldn’t fit well into Valley’s current structure; therefore, geothermal seemed a little out of range.

            After considering many other options the school decided to replace the old steam boilers with hot water boilers. Instead of using just propane to fire the new boilers, they will be able to choose between LP or fuel oil, depending on the price. But, why the new heaters in the classrooms?  The steam heaters have to be replaced because the school will be using hot water to provide heat, which requires different coils.  The heating coils are not installed in the gym yet and will not be installed until the end of the project because the gym is usually warmer than many of the classrooms. In addition, because the old unit-vents were 1957 models and they need to be updated, the new replacement units are going to be dual performance, so in the summer they can be used as air conditioning units as well. Along with the new heaters, the school will be installing new thermostat controls. The large part of the project is currently focusing on installing the piping in the boiler room.  The boilers have been installed for a few weeks now and as soon as they can get even one boiler up and running the school should be warm.  The problem is there is a large amount of piping to be installed, which just takes time to do.  Custodial staff hopes to have a limited amount of heat in two weeks.

            The process of installing the new system is time consuming, and for the time being, a little uncomfortable for the students and staff at Valley who prefer to have warmer classrooms. However, when the new units get installed, the school will be restored to normal temperature with much more efficient heat. But, for now, everyone who comes to visit Valley, remember, bring a jacket to stay warm!

 

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