PUBLIC HOUSING CASE STUDY Liberty Avenue Duplexes ­ Woburn, MA Free hot water tanks looked like a good deal for this low income complex ­ until space and reliability issues suggested a smarter solution. W oburn Housing Authority owns and manages more than 300 low income r ental homes and apartments in W oburn, a small city located near Boston, Massachusetts. In early 2004, the Housing Authority decided to convert the fur naces and hot water heaters in their fifty Liberty Avenue homes from oil to natural gas. The gas company, Keyspan Energy, was offering free tank water heaters to the Authority as an extra incentive. This was an attractive idea: the Housing Authority expected the conversion to both substantially reduce maintenance expenses and save their tenants energy costs. work. The Housing Authority needed a reliable, efficient water heater that could fit into this narrow space. High standards for low-income housing. The comfortable Liberty Avenue home above is one of 50 upgraded to Bosch tankless water heaters, with results that pleased both the residents and the Housing Authority. Running out of room But early on the pr oject ran into a serious pr oblem. Four of the twenty-five duplexes had no basements, leaving little room for tank water heaters. The back hallway in each of these eight homes was where the water heater would be installed. This hallway leads to the back door of the home and also serves as a laundry room. A tank installed in this area would have taken up about half of the hallway's width, as well as blocking part of the doorway. Fr ee or not, a conventional hot water tank just wouldn't The smaller, smarter water heater Steve Kutney, the head of contracting at the Housing Authority , had read about the small size and high-efficiency of tankless water heaters. He was impressed by Bosch's fifteen-year warranty on their tankless units. The hot water tanks previously used in the project were usually failing within eight or nine years. A unit with a longer expected life could save the Housing Authority considerable installation costs well into the futur e. Steve found the Pro TanklessTM by Bosch GWH 635 ES fit the needs of those last four duplexes perfectly: it's both compact and wall-hung, and stands out only 8.5 inches off the wall. He was also pleased to learn that the 635 is the most efficient tankless water heater available and has about twice the expected lifetime of a typical tank water heater . The Housing Authority, with the approval of the engineer overseeing the project, purchased eight Bosch 635s. In the spring of 2004 they were installed in each of the eight homes. Bosch 635 uses about a thir d less gas than a tank water heater, saving each tenant about $100 annually. That amounts to $800 yearly for the eight units installed. Steve Kutney reports "the Bosch water heaters solved a difficult problem for us, and have worked well... Bosch has provided good technical support for the units since they were installed." All the hot water the tenants need The Bosch tankless units were installed on a wall of the hallway to the back door of each home, leaving enough room below the water heater for laundry machines. The 635s supply all the hot water needs for these thr ee bedr oom homes, which can have as many as five residents. Each water heater easily supplies two major hot water fixtures at the same time, delivering more hot water in an hour than an eighty-gallon tank. This allows the unit to fully suppor t the hot water needs of a large and busy family ­ they never run out of hot water. Fulfilling another important objective, the A bulky tank would have blocked the entrance to this tiny utility space. Here a Bosch 635 ES hangs neatly on the wall, freeing floor space for a washer and dryer and supplying endless hot water for all household needs. BBT NORTH AMERICA CORPORATION Bosch Group Bosch Water Heating 340 Mad River Park Waitsfield, VT 05673 800-798-8219 www.boschpro.com ...