Healthcare

Water heating consumes a major part of a healthcare facility’s energy budget—42% on average in the U.S. Yet it is often overlooked as a source of savings, because it quietly consumes energy in the mechanical room and is accepted as an essential service without an alternative. Hot water is used in bathrooms, kitchen, laundry and rehab/recreation facilities.

EarthLinked® Water Heating places those savings within easy reach, reducing carbon emissions and operating costs by 60-75%. It harvests solar energy from the shallow earth to preheat large quantities of water for existing tanks.

The system recovers and transfers heat from one location to another, rather than consuming energy to create heat. Every day, the Earth acts as a giant solar collector and storage battery by capturing almost half of the solar energy that reaches its surface in the form of heat.

The lifecycle economics of EarthLinked Water Heating consistently outperform those of any other system in the market, including fossil-fuel and electric water heating. Unlike water heating with dedicated solar collectors, it is cost-effective in any location, and independent of weather conditions and sunshine. The EarthLinked heat pump is even transferring heat from the earth in Alaska. In addition, leasing is available to enable the cost to be paid by savings.

Sustainability:  Healthcare’s New Cost-Saving Edge

There is visible momentum for clean energy solutions in healthcare.  Green labels, increased consumer demand for sustainability initiatives, and the recognition that renewable energy initiatives can also reduce costs, are influencing nursing homes, rehabilitation facilities, hospital and other healthcare properties to pursue aggressive energy and emission reduction programs.

Reduce your Healthcare Property’s Carbon Emissions

EarthLinked Water Heating is particularly well suited to healthcare properties that seek to reduce their carbon emissions with a reliable solution. The U.S. EPA has verified 75% electrical savings with EarthLinked CWH compared to electric resistance water heating in a nursing home. For a typical healthcare facility, this system can thus save up to 30% of total energy consumption.

Also verified by the U.S. EPA, a single 6-ton capacity EarthLinked Water Heating unit can save up to 42,600 lbs of CO2 and 90 lbs of NOx emissions per year (the equivalent of displacing 3,630 gallons of gasoline or 74 barrels of oil yearly). When recovering heat from PV panels, a single 6-ton EarthLinked heat pump can save even more CO2 emissions. The system also contributes to LEED green-building certification and can earn carbon credits for the system owner.

Slash Costs …

Of the array of water-heating systems available to healthcare institutions, EarthLinked Water Heating is the most cost-effective. It is less expensive to operate than electric, fuel oil, propane, solar thermal systems (with electric or fossil energy back-up) and even natural gas (using 5-year average prices of natural gas). Most of the heat that it delivers is free renewable energy stored in the shallow earth, or captured through solar photovoltaic panels.

Leasing is available to defray the upfront cost and pay for the installation using monthly savings. Without leasing, that cost is rapidly recovered through monthly cost savings. As a result, EarthLinked Water Heating systems pay for themselves within 3 to 5 years on average, and sometimes faster when displacing costly energy sources such as propane, fuel oil or electricity.

… and Boost Reliability Anytime, Anywhere

A single 6-ton system pre-heats 2,500-3,000 gallons per day to 110°F, enough for the rooms in an 80-unit facility, and multiple systems can work together to serve larger needs. With its small footprint, EarthLinked CWH is particularly well suited to retrofit installations; and because it carries most of the water heating load, its addition increases reliability since it supplements rather than replaces the existing system (that remains available for supplemental heat or backup).