Overhaul at South Tahoe rec center will save city millions
By Kathryn Reed
Unbeknown to swimmers, those at the front counter, people working out on the gym equipment and employees, the boiler which heats the facility was replaced Monday with one that makes the old one look like a relic from the Dark Ages of technology.
The new one weights 750 pounds; the old one 8,000 pounds. The new one is about one-fifth the size of the old one. It will be up and running in a couple weeks.
Jim Fisher, left, and Duc Le begin installing the rec center boiler Aug. 23. Photos/Kathryn Reed
Two boilers date to when the South Lake Tahoe complex opened in the 1970s. One will remain as a backup to the spiffy new one.
“We are going to save $1.6 million over a 24-year period,” explained Gary Moore, director of the city’s Parks and Recreation Department, of the retrofit at entire facility. That is a net savings.
The total savings is $2.4 million. The cost of the equipment is $850,000. The money to pay for this comes from a 15-year 3 percent loan from the California Energy Commission.
With the retrofit to the center that houses the community pool and the neighboring ice rink, a savings of $65,000 is expected in the first year.
Aircon Energy out of Sacramento is doing the bulk of the work, with local contractors being used when possible. On Aug. 23 it was a truck from local contractor Dale Rise that was hauling away the old boiler. It will be recycled.
The new blue boiler is a fraction of the size of the old white boiler.
Next up is digging the trench between the pool and ice rink. The turbine being installed to heat the pool will create electricity. That electricity will then be used to operate the ice rink.
The air handler for the pool bubble will be installed this fall.
All the lighting changes were done earlier this summer. New fluorescent bulbs and sensor devices were installed.
“We spent $60,000 for lighting to retrofit this site. The payback is $18,000 a year, so it doesn’t make sense not to do it,” Moore said. “The lighting is cool. It is brighter in the gymnasium, but it’s using half the wattage.”
Savings from the entire project will be used to pay off the loan.
“Once the equipment is paid off, whoever is sitting at this desk should lobby hard to keep it in this department,” Moore said. He is retiring Oct. 1.
Nice work Gary & Crew ! Always good to hear about energy retrofits and sensible ways to improve existing facilities.
Gary, if you could figure out a way to get the public more involved at the Rec Center I’d say you hit a homerun before leaving office.
This is GREAT news! Good job, Gary.
Gary and the Rec Center have now set the bar for retrofits to other municipal and commercial buildings.
Another ‘job well done’ Gary! What a legacy to leave behind…we’re gonna miss ya!
SLT Parks and Rec ROCKS! By far the best department of the city!
The lighting playback is in just over 3 years. Not bad but nothing the crow about.
The boiler payback is more than 12 years. No one is american industry would make a decision to do this unless the old system was broken and couldn’t be fixed. A 3 year payback is normal, not 12. Funny how government looks at things differently since thier salaries aren’t tied to making profit for stockholders (that’s us the taxpayers).
Sounds cool. I’m still skeptical about fluorescent lighting though. I bought a bunch about 3 years ago and was shocked that they started burning out in about half the time the old incandescents had. And they cost more! Went back to the old for the house–I like the glow better anyway!
There are a couple of reasons that CFL’s (compact fluorescent bulbs) could burn out sooner than expected. One reason is quality as there are some cheap, poorly made bulbs out there. Also, unlike incandescents, fluorescent bulbs are actually more likely to burn out sooner from constant on and off switching (known as short cycling). Now that most of us have been ‘trained’ to turn off lights when not in use, it seems counter intuitive to leave the light on but CFL’s actually need to be on for a while to warm up and work efficiently. I have an old stlye CFL in a light fixture that is on a timer and runs an average of 4-5 hours every evening and has not been replaced in almost 6 years. I’ve had others, (newer ones) that lasted only a few months. Since I learned about their short cycling problem, I either don’t turn it on for just a short period or I leave it on for a while. My electic bill has most definitely gone down since replacing almost all (not dimmer switched) bulbs in my home. They do contain mercury, so they must be disposed of as household hazardous waste. CFL’s are considered a bridge technology until the even more efficient and mercury-free LED’s become more price competitive.