Lochinvar announced three new innovations and initiatives at this year’s AHR Expo in Orlando, continuing its investment in research and development.

New Squire Stainless Steel Indirect Water Heaters

The Squire Indirect Water Heater line has been expanded upon and enhanced to a total of 12 stainless steel models with capacities between 30 and 119 gallons. Six of the models are solar units featuring hybrid systems that incorporate solar thermal panels along with a secondary boiler heating coil or electric back-up. As a result of Lochinvar’s investment in tooling, machinery, robotics and passivation equipment, all Squire units will be manufactured at company headquarters in Lebanon, TN, beginning February 2010. All models will also carry a limited lifetime warranty.

Solar Thermal Heating Initiative

The company announced its Solar Thermal Heating initiative, which is the result of a new partnership with TiSUN GmbH of Tyrol, Austria. The partnership between Lochinvar and TiSUN provides the exact product, training and support that mechanical and plumbing design engineers and contractors need to provide renewable energy solutions for their clients. As a global leader and specialist in solar heating technology, TiSUN brings years of extensive experience, along with a complete line of innovative products, to the table. The Lochinvar/TiSUN product offering will include solar thermal panels specifically engineered and designed for commercial use, solar thermal storage tanks utilizing a unique design that allows the tank to enhance the efficiency of the system, and the associated pumping stations used to move the solar energy between these devices. 

CREST Condensing Boiler

Lochinvar also plans to unveil the latest addition to its commercial, stainless steel, condensing family of boilers in 2010. The CREST Heating Boiler has been developed to offer engineers more system design flexibility, sizes and distinctive performance characteristics to meet today’s building standards for new construction and energy retrofit applications. Several patents are pending on the technology incorporated into this new product. 

Once available, the CREST Heating Boiler will be offered in five models with capacities of 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, 3.0 and 3.5 million Btu/hr inputs. Each of these models will feature an advanced burner and combustion system designed to provide exceptional turndown capabilities and improve overall seasonal efficiencies. In addition, CREST will include the ever-popular SMART TOUCH operating control platform enhanced with an eight-inch touchscreen display; this advanced control will offer ease of set-up and use by installing contractors and will include Modbus protocol for easy integration into Building Management Systems. 

Featuring a sleek, smart design, CREST will be equipped with distinctive features and control parameters to provide facility managers with functionality, ease of operation and data retrieval. Venting flexibility will allow both vertical and horizontal venting options with increased vent lengths and configurations.

A video featuring the live announcements of these new innovations and initiatives by Lochinvar executives at the AHR Expo is available at www.lochinvar.com.