Jack Stoughton set himself and his strata council a target. As a Strata Manager for a 246-suite residential property in Richmond, he wanted to go five years without a strata fee increase while maintaining and possibly improving the quality of service. Jack decided that one way of doing this was to take a hard look at the amount spent annually on natural gas.

 

The strata complex consisted of three four-storey buildings that were built in several phases dating back to 1993. Each building contained three large gas-fired water heaters that supplied domestic hot water to the suites. Jack thought that major reductions in gas usage would be possible if the hot water could be supplied more efficiently.

 

Adding to the problem of the high gas consumption was the relatively short lifespan of the water heaters. The strata was spending several thousand dollars in replacement costs each year. It was time to look at reducing these costs by installing a new system.

An earlier assessment indicated that the three water heaters in each building could be replaced with a single boiler plus storage tanks, reducing the connected gas load for water heating by 34 per cent and increasing efficiency by up to 15 per cent. The strata would also save on annual replacement costs, as the lifespan of the new boiler and tank system was estimated to be more than three times that of the original water heaters.

 

The water heaters in each building were removed and each set was replaced with one copper tube boiler and three storage tanks.

The strata is saving about 15 per cent (around $9,000) per year since implementing its efficiency measures. With the additional savings in annual replacement costs, the strata should get a return on the initial investment in two years.

Jack Stoughton found major cost savings for his Richmond strata. Chances are good you could do the same for yours.