Natural Gas Booster Heaters

Shared Savings financing
Project paybacks

Advantages of natural gas

Cut operating costs 60% to 80%
Reduce labor costs
Decrease equipment wear and tear
Minimize environmental effects

Potential savings

Use the chart below to estimate your savings of using natural gas over electricity for your
booster heater.

Find the kW rating of the electric booster heater (found on the equipment nameplate).
Estimate the weekly operating hours for the dishwasher.
Find the annual energy cost savings.

Example: Replace a 24-kW electric booster water heater on a dishwasher that operates 80
hours per week and save $2,003 annually. The payback can be less than two years.

Savings chart

Natural gas booster heater savings projections

ANNUAL ENERGY SAVINGS ($)
Electric heater kW	Dishwasher operating hours per week
Electric heater kW	40	45	50	55	60	65	70	75	80	85	90	95	100	105	110
4	167	188	209	230	250	271	292	313	334	355	376	396	417	438	459
5	209	235	261	287	313	339	365	391	417	4443	470	496	522	548	574
6	250	282	313	344	376	407	438	470	501	532	563	595	626	657	689
7	292	329	365	402	438	475	511	548	584	621	657	694	730	767	803
9	376	423	470	516	563	610	657	704	751	798	845	892	939	986	1033
12	501	563	626	689	751	814	876	939	1002	1064	1127	1189	1252	1315	1377
13.5	563	634	704	775	845	916	986	1056	1127	1197	1268	1338	1409	1479	1549
15	626	704	783	861	939	1017	1096	1174	1252	1330	1409	1487	1565	1643	1722
17.2	718	808	897	987	1077	1166	1256	1346	1436	1525	1615	1705	1795	1884	1974
18	751	845	939	1033	1127	1221	1315	1409	1502	1596	1690	1784	1878	1972	2066
24	1002	1127	1252	1377	1502	1628	1753	1878	2003	2128	2254	2379	2504	2629	2754
27	1127	1268	1409	1549	1690	1831	1972	2113	2254	2395	2535	2676	2817	2958	3099
30	1252	1409	1565	1722	1878	2035	2191	2348	2504	2661	2817	2974	3130	3287	3443
36	1502	1690	1878	2066	2254	2441	2629	2817	3005	3193	3380	3568	3756	3944	4132
39	1628	1831	2035	2238	2441	2645	2848	3052	3255	3459	3662	3866	4069	4273	4476
45	1878	2113	2348	2582	2817	3052	3287	3521	3756	3991	4226	4460	4695	4930	5165
54	2254	2535	2817	3099	3380	3662	3944	4226	4507	4789	5071	5352	5634	5916	6198
58.5	2441	2747	3052	3357	3662	3967	4273	4578	4883	5188	5493	5798	6104	6409	6714

Footnotes:

Savings calculated as a comparison with electric booster heaters.
Energy costs are assumed to be 8 cents per kWh and 45 cents per therm.

Madison restaurant savings example

Madison Area Restaurants - Potential Savings

Location	Dishwasher operating time	Electric annual operating cost	Gas annual operating cost	Electric-to-gas savings
Site 1 Hotel	12 hours/day 7 days/week (84 hours)	54 kW heater: $5,528	$1,138	$4,390 (79%)
Site 2 Hotel	12 hours/day 7 days/week (84 hours)	45 kW heater: $3,977	$684	$3,293 (83%)
Site 3 National chain restaurant	13 hours/day 5 days/week & 14 hours/day 2 days/week (93 hours)	45 kW heater: $5,912	$1,535	$4,377 (74%)