Kyle Keckler
News Editor
Campus has seen a lot of changes recently – from the repair and reopening of the pool, a total overhaul of the Student Union parking lot, the replacement of a series of utility tunnels around lower campus, and now a new boiler system for the Idaho State University Steam Plant.
Two new boilers will be installed in the heating plant and should be in operation by the fall semester of 2025. These boilers will replace two that have been with the heating plant for nearly 80 years, allowing the plant to better provide the campus with heat and hot water.
The Bengal recently reached out to Steve Kingery, head of Steam Plant operations, to inquire about the recent overhaul. The output of the boilers, being the actual heat and hot water which they produce, is measured via pounds-per-hour. “We go by pounds-per-hour… we average anywhere from during a hot day we might drop down to 5,000 or 6,000 pounds per hour, but on a cold day we can jump up to 35,000 pounds per hour,” said Kingery, who further elaborated that the renovation will do more for campus than just ensure that its heat source is in better shape, but also improve the university’s carbon footprint: “The new boilers will minimize the heat plant’s carbon emissions and provide reliable heat to campus. Boiler Four, which is 20 years old and
currently the most efficient boiler in the heat plant has an emissions value of 30 parts per
million. The new boilers will have an emissions value of 9 parts per million, reducing the
heat plant’s carbon footprint. They will also reduce utility and maintenance costs.” All of this to say, these renovations are investments into the efficiency and availability of heat at ISU; and given that the steam plant provides approximately 85% of all the heat that the campus consumes, it is heartening to hear that the plant is receiving the care that such a crucial piece of infrastructure deserves.
The Idaho State University Steam (or Heat) Plant itself has a pretty storied history, being first constructed in 1947 to address the need for reliable heating and hot water on campus in the winter months, initially built with only two boilers. The plant now houses four boiler systems; Boilers One and Two are both original to the building, meaning they have been on campus for nearly 80 years. Boiler Three was installed in 1952, meaning it has now been in operation for only 73 years, with Boiler Four having been installed as recently as 2005. It is worth considering that the typical lifespan of a boiler for a heat plant is somewhere around 30 years; three of Idaho State’s four boilers are well over that age. The first two boilers, given their advanced age and general inefficiency, have in recent years only been used as a backup system in the event that Boilers Three or Four are unable to produce heat for any given reason.
The installation of the boilers has been done rather dramatically, with the ceiling of the steam plant being cut open to allow for a crane to very carefully lower the boilers into the plant, where they are currently being installed and fitted for operation in the coming Fall 2025 semester. These changes to the plant consist of more than just new boilers; also included in the approximately 13-million-dollar overhaul is a new steel frame installed to keep the steam plant up to seismic code, ensuring the plant’s structural stability in the event of an earthquake or other disruptive event. On the topic of disaster readiness, the plant will also soon be receiving a 7,000-gallon diesel fuel tank, which will act as a backup fuel source in the event the primary city-based source is in some way disrupted, ensuring that ISU will always have heat when it needs it.
The ISU Steam Plant is a critical piece of campus infrastructure, which through a complex network of pipes spanning two miles in length provides for almost all buildings on campus, ensuring that students and staff alike have access to heat when they need it. With two new boilers, the plant can continue to provide for the campus community, and keep ISU warm. The Bengal would like to thank Steve Kingery and Chris Baker for graciously accommodating an in-person tour of the facility.
