UNH Central Heating System
The UNH Heating Plant is located next to the tall brick chimney, adjacent to the Service Building. No, that's not the chimney that served the trash incinerator...the brick chimney is for the boilers located in the Heating Plant. Inside the Heating Plant, there are four large boilers and one smaller boiler that all produce steam. The boilers burn number 6 fuel oil and natural gas.
Some of the boilers can burn either of those two fuels. Whether we burn natural gas or number 6 fuel oil is based on the relative costs of the two energy sources. Due to higher costs and capacity restrictions on the natural gas pipeline, the plant uses mostly oil during December - February. During the coldest winter months, the Heating Plant burns about 12,000 gallons of number 6 oil a day! That's a little more than one tanker truck load a day.
Some of the steam produced in the Heating Plant boilers is piped directly to campus buildings such as Huddleston, the Field House, and Rudman Hall.. However, most of the steam never leaves the Heating Plant. Instead, the steam is used to heat water and the hot water is then pumped from the Heating Plant to campus buildings.
There is a network of underground piping that serves campus buildings. The only
above ground section of piping is between the Heating Plant and the Field House. The
extent of the underground piping system is bounded by Barton Hall, the Alumni Center,
Woodside Apartments, Stillings Dining Hall, Health Services, Alexander Hall, Hunter Hall,
McConnell Hall, Forest Park, and Zais Hall. Buildings outside that area of campus
(such as The Gables and Ocean Engineering) have their own local boilers and furnaces.
