Yes, our 33 year old boilers are failing, a little worse every month. For the past two years we have been using duct tape and baling wire to keep the old Iron Monster alive, but its death is imminent. The old control system is manual and we have had to send someone down to the boiler room to hit the “RESET” button, sometimes 4-5 times a day. We have had all of the control units and sensors replaced over the past four years, but the “ghost of boilers past” keeps coming back to haunt us.
Soooooooo…
We have contracted with a Lafayette commercial boiler specialist to replace the the old dogs this Summer. These units, one large one for heating the radiator registers to heat the Phi Lodge, the smaller one for heating the water for showers and washing, The new boiler will be over 90% efficient and will be using PVC exhaust instead of the old chimneys. The price is just north of $135,000. Now, before you think to yourselves “here we go with another fund-raiser”, because of the recent room renovations and nearly full house the past few years, we have been able to squirrel away the money needed to complete this project over the past several years without any additional loans or Alumni requests for donations.
We have just a few more major projects, like a new roof and tuck-pointing the exterior brick walls, to complete over the next two years and the the old Phi Lodge will have been pretty much upgraded and renovated over the past eight years. We should be able to complete these future projects with no new loans or donations as long as we keep the House fairly full.