Lochinvar ARMOR Wins Bronze in the CSE Product of the Year Awards

Press

by Lochinvar Marketing Department | 10/10/2008

The ARMOR Commercial Water Heater from Lochinvar has been selected as one of three winners in the plumbing category in the Consulting-Specifying Engineer 2008 Product of the Year competition. 

Equipped with the most advanced features available, including thermal efficiencies up to 98 percent, inputs up to 500,000 Btu/hr, a stainless steel heat exchanger, 5:1 modulating turndown and the SMART SYSTEM™ operating control, ARMOR is considered to be top of its class by the program's board of judges and subscribers to the magazine.

After being selected as a finalist in April by a panel of judges comprised of professional engineers who regularly design and specify HVAC, electrical, fire protection, and plumbing systems, readers had the opportunity to cast their vote for the fourth annual awards.  The magazine has a readership of more than 46,000 mechanical, electrical, and plumbing engineers, who selected ARMOR as the recipient of the bronze medal for all plumbing products. 

“Competition was fierce this year; the judges had a hard time narrowing the finalists down to three for each category. We take this as a sign that manufacturers are investing more in new-product R&D, which is a huge win for the buildings industry and the environment,” said Jim Langhenry, publisher of Consulting-Specifying Engineer.

Award-Winning ARMOR
Available in five commercial water heater models, ARMOR offers a choice of 150,000, 199,000, 285,000, 399,000 and 500,000 Btu/hr inputs.  Designed to be installed with a separate storage tank, ARMOR protects against the harmful effects of lime scale buildup, which can cause a traditional tank-type water heater to fail in as little as two to five years and substantially increase operating costs. 
The fully modulating 5:1 turndown burner enables ARMOR to fire as low as 20 percent of maximum input and smoothly modulate up to 100 percent depending on demand, which is a definite advantage over competitive units that are only capable of firing at 100 percent input. With 5:1 turndown, ARMOR takes maximum advantage of its thermal efficiency, virtually eliminating wasted fuel and reducing operating costs.

In addition, ARMOR is equipped with Lochinvar’s SMART SYSTEM control, which includes a built-in cascading sequencer for installations using up to eight water heaters, to maximize hot water delivery. This exclusive feature ensures optimum performance and efficiency by precisely modulating firing rates, beginning with minimum-demand situations when only the lead water heater in the sequence operates. As demand increases, additional ARMOR water heaters in the system fire and modulate in a cascading sequence until all units are operating and maximum input of up to four million Btu/hr is achieved.

Also, the SMART SYSTEM sequencer automatically rotates the lead water heater function, so that all units handle an equal water heating load over the life of the system