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.
oburn Housing
W
manages more than 300 low
income r ental homes and
apartments in W oburn, a small
city located near Boston,
Massachusetts.
Housing Authority decided to
convert the fur naces and hot
Authority owns and
In early 2004, the
water heaters in their fifty
Liberty Avenue homes from oil
to natural gas. The gas compa-
ny, Keyspan Energy, was offer-
ing free tank water heaters to
the Authority as an extra incen-
tive. This was an attractive
idea: the Housing Authority
expected the conversion to both substantially reduce mainte-
nance expenses and save their tenants energy costs.
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
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 par
doorway.
Fr ee or not, a conventional hot water tank just wouldn’t
oblem. Four of
t of the
work. The Housing Authority needed a reliable, efficient water
heater that could fit into this narrow space.
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 war-
ranty 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 Tankless™ by Bosch GWH 635 ES
fit the needs of those last four duplexes perfectly: it’s both com-
pact 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.
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 fix-
tures 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
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.”
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
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