Four Ways Automatic Balancing Valves Can Save You Money

When selecting flow valves for your project, balancing your water system effectively with automatic balancing valves may seem to come at a higher price.  Though it’s true that automatic balancing valves – when compared with manual balancing valves, ball valves, or circuit setters – come at a higher per-unit price, a system equipped with this option can be set up less expensively and can save the owner maintenance costs over time.

1. Potentially lower purchase cost.  Wait – what?!  Your manual valves may come cheaper, but you’ll have to buy more of them.  Traditional balancing valves may require twice as many valves within the system to balance it effectively.  Buying sets – such as the coil hook-up kits available for your system – can help save you even more money.
2. Lower cost of installation.  More valves means more time required to install them.  You’ll be paying your crew for longer hours, and don’t forget the cost of calibrating the system by hand should you choose manual balancing valves.  (A system with automatic balancing valves also requires fewer valves in tricky-to-install places, such as in a bypass.  This means less time spent analyzing and problem-solving by your team.)
3. Less time (and money) spent maintaining the system.  When your system balances itself automatically from the time it starts running, you’ll spend less time and money on maintenance in the long run.  You won’t need to manually balance the coils, only verify the flow – which most contractors estimate at half an hour (versus one-and-a-half hours to calibrate a manual valve).
4. Better energy usage.  ABV-equipped buildings use less energy due to their ability to adjust water flow to certain parts of a building.  This provides temperature control to areas that need it, while allowing for unused wings or parts of the building that may have different energy needs to be adjusted for.