PTAC Replacement for New Jersey Hotels and Apartments
A PTAC is the through-the-wall unit under the window in almost every hotel room and a great many older apartments. Individually they are small. A property with two hundred of them, most fifteen years old and several running continuously because a guest left them on, is a very large energy load.
- Typical incentive
- 50–80% of cost
- Strongest fit
- Hotels
- Approach
- Whole-property changeout
Why replace PTACs across a whole property at once?
Because the incentive is calculated on the aggregate saving, and because the per-unit cost of a coordinated changeout is substantially lower than replacing units one at a time as they fail.
Replacing on failure means paying full price for every unit, forever, with no incentive attached and a room out of service at unpredictable times. A planned changeout is priced as a single project, qualifies as a single incentive application, and is scheduled around occupancy.
For a hotel that is the difference between an operating expense that never ends and a capital project that pays back.
How is the work scheduled around guests?
Floor by floor, in blocks, working with the property's occupancy forecast. A unit changeout is a same-day job per room.
Existing wall sleeves are reused wherever they are sound, which is what keeps the per-room work to a matter of hours rather than a construction job. Where sleeves have corroded — common on coastal properties in Atlantic and Cape May counties — they are replaced as part of the scope.
Is there a better option than like-for-like PTAC?
Often, yes. PTHP units — packaged terminal heat pumps — fit the same sleeve but heat far more efficiently than electric resistance, and they attract stronger incentives.
A very large number of existing PTACs heat with electric resistance, which is the most expensive way to make heat. Swapping to a heat pump version of the same form factor is frequently the single highest-return decision in the whole project, and it requires no change to the building.
Common questions
Do the wall sleeves need replacing?
Usually not. Sound sleeves are reused, which keeps the per-room work short. Corroded sleeves — common near the shore — are replaced within the project scope.
How many rooms per day?
It depends on access and the property's occupancy, and it is planned with your operations team before the schedule is set.
Can you do apartments as well as hotels?
Yes. Older New Jersey apartment buildings frequently run the same through-wall equipment.
Find out what your building qualifies for
A survey and an energy model tell you the real number. That is a phone call, not a commitment.