La Grande High School upgrading its aging boilers

LA GRANDE – Out with the old and in with the new. After five decades of continuous use, the La Grande High School is upgrading its aging boilers. La Grande School District superintendent George Mendoza recently told Elkhorn Media Group that the district is in the process of replacing the high school’s now 50-year-old boilers with new, more efficient models.

According to Mendoza, the need to upgrade the boilers is two-fold. The boilers themselves, being much older models, are becoming increasingly difficult to maintain due to a scarcity of parts and know-how. Replacement components are no longer manufactured and are increasingly difficult to source. Keven Griffith, the district’s primary contractor for boiler servicing, is also retiring. As described by Mendoza:

“There’s not that many people that take care of 50-year-old and 75-year-old boilers anymore. And the boiler parts are also hard to find now. When they become 50 or 75 years old, there’s not a lot of companies that keep old boiler parts. So, then they tell you, you need to get new boilers, or you need to get energy efficient boilers and upgrade.”

And that’s just what the district is doing. Currently, work is underway to replace the high school’s old boilers with three new energy efficient ones. These new boilers are expected to be installed by the end of October and be ready for use by the beginning of November. When brought online, they could cut the high school’s natural gas usage by around 50%. As commented by Mendoza:

“We’ll be money ahead. We’re not using as much natural gas, and we’re not paying as much for natural gas.”

In total, boiler installation, pipe fitting, and demolition of the old boilers are estimated to cost the district around $400,000. Part of the cost is, however, being offset by a $50,000 rebate, bringing the total bill for the district down to $350,000.

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Elkhorn Media Group