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Photo of a CAT generator inside a data center room with colorful lighting in the room shot by Timo Arnal

Our daily lives depend on having power readily available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Data centers, hospitals, municipalities, universities, and other critical facilities depend on backup generator power for uninterrupted operation. In the event of an outage, emergency standby generators must start and accept full load power within ten seconds. By continuously heating the coolant in the engine's block during standby mode, Hotstart heating systems keep generators ready to start. Ensure your facility is ready to stay powered when it matters most with Hotstart heaters.

For 500 watt and smaller generators, Hotstart offers a wide range of heating solutions including convection-based and pump-driven options. For generators 1 MW and larger, Hotstart offers high efficiency heat pump systems to reduce operating costs.

Applications

A data center outage for any duration can be incredibly costly — impacting revenue and exposing facilities to potential hardware failure and security threats. To mitigate outage risks from a grid power failure, facility managers rely on multiple onsite generators at each location. However, generators can impact sustainability efforts by being an unexpected source of energy consumption due to coolant heating requirements. Hotstart’s High Efficiency Heat Pump keeps generators ready to start while reducing overall energy consumption during the generator’s idle hours.

Utilizing proven air-source heat pump technology, Hotstart’s High Efficiency Heat Pump maintains a generator’s ideal water jacket temperature during standby mode at a lower cost than a traditional engine heater. Generators 1MW and larger retrofitted with a Hotstart heat pump can see savings of 20,000 – 40,000 kWh* annually per generator. As the heat pump is installed redundantly with an existing engine heater, it also supports overall data center resiliency. Data centers with multiple backup generators can realize immediate and significant savings by upgrading to a Hotstart High Efficiency Heat Pumps.

*Savings dependent on existing heater, ambient temperature, and engine size.

Reliable, easily available power is essential for everyday life. The only time we notice an issue with power is when it's not there. Backup power generators are the answer for emergency on-site power. Keeping generators heated during standby mode ensures gensets start quickly and immediately take full load power in emergencies.

Prime power generators satisfy power demands during peak energy hours. Seamless transitions from grid to generator power are essential for supplementing grid power during peak shaving or base loading. Heating generators during standby mode keeps the engine prepped for easy starts and ready to accept full load power. 

Fire protection systems are an integral part of a fire suppression sprinkler system and critical infrastructure for building safety. NFPA 20 standards for fire pump diesel engines require the water jacket to be maintained at 120 °F (49 °C) to ensure reliable starts. Hotstart has a range of thermostatically controlled heaters that maintain the required temperature.

Case Studies

In the generator set market, forced circulation heating systems are often touted as being a forward-thinking, environmentally friendly, high-efficiency alternative to the traditional thermosiphon engine heater. However, these claims often lack quantitative evidence. Facilities managers, tasked with purchasing engine heating systems for data center generators, must then decide whether the high efficiency claims of a forced circulation system outweigh the inexpensive and uncomplicated legacy technology of the thermosiphon heating option.

Download this case study detailing real-world comparison testing of Hotstart's HOTflow® forced circulation heaters vs thermosiphon heaters in a data center environment.

GenSet Heating in a Data Center Environment

Engine heating provides essential benefits to organizations that rely on onsite power generation. However, an inefficient heating solution can slowly sap away time and money through high electrical costs, frequent repair costs, or hoses and plumbing replacement.

Learn more about potential performance and efficiency benefits in our comparison testing of the EVRHEAT Series 20 vs comparable thermosiphon and forced circulation heating systems.

EVRHEAT Series 20 Performance & Efficiency

Engine heating provides essential benefits to organizations that rely on onsite power generation. However, an inefficient heating solution can slowly sap away time and money — in the form of excessive electrical costs, frequent repair costs or replacement of hoses and plumbing.

Learn more about potential performance and efficiency benefits in our comparison testing of the HOTflow CTM vs comparable thermosiphon heating systems.

HOTflow vs Thermosiphon Energy Efficiency Comparison Case Study

Energy Efficiency Calculator

Upgrading a thermosiphon engine heater to an energy-efficient pump-powered heater can result in lower power consumption, meaning direct savings for your operation. Hotstart's energy efficiency calculator will help you estimate the potential savings with a HOTflow engine heater. Simply enter your fuel consumption rate, engine displacement in liters or cubic inches, and estimated annual engine running time to calculate how much you can save*.

*Savings shown are estimations only. Actual savings on heaters dependent on application, installation and local utility rates.

Enter the kWh cost in your area (example: 0.25)
Enter engine displacement in liters or cubic inch
Enter estimated annual engine runtime in hours (8,760 hours in a year)
HOTSTART: How Much Energy Can You Save?

HOTSTART: How Much Energy Can You Save?

Testimonials

During the last 12 months, the way we work has changed significantly. Who knew it would take a virus to really show us what we’re made of? The situation with COVID changed how we operate and communicate, which posed very significant challenges. While we bent and flexed to keep things moving, we always had fear or worry lurking in the shadows. One thing I have grown to appreciate is the way vendors flexed and communicated their internal challenges – but it’s not just that, they did it in a way that allowed our operations to flex along with them, keeping those fears far from the danger zone.

Not all vendors were able to handle the challenges that were thrown at them. There were, however; a few that really seemed to shine, and Hotstart was definitely one of those! Being provided with information in a timely manner that allowed for adjustments was something I wouldn’t have been able to operate without. Another way Hotstart set themselves apart was by providing dates and sticking to them. In manufacturing, there is a serious need for clear, reliable information sharing. I consider myself fortunate to have been able to work through the COVID challenges with a team that included people like Lena and Jim. Not only were we always kept in the loop regarding their own supplier challenges, but if there were products we could use to substitute, Jim was quick to provide that information. I look forward to continuing to work with the team at Hotstart!

Michelle Latzke

Material Planner II | MTU America

We at Generac ‐ Ottomotores value OUR PEOPLE, thus promoting their development and knowledge are an ongoing priority in order to maintain quality of our technical offering when supplying power solutions. As a business partner, HOTSTART's team traveled to Mexico to provide technical training in preheating engines to both our production and engineering personnel, as well as best installation practices, with the goal to improve preheater performance in our Gen Set groups. The training was a success, and will allow us to continue improving on quality which is a characteristic of our equipment.

Aleida Jardinez

Analista de Capacitación / Recursos Humanos | Generac - Ottomotores

Rivera Diesel is a company dedicated to selling gensets, as well as other brand name equipment. The reason why Rivera Diesel buys HOTSTART has to do with our high confidence with HOTSTART products, receiving immediate and dedicated support in a timely manner, punctuality with deliveries and competitive prices. Our customers can always rely on HOTSTART products as part of applicable spare parts for our entire line of gensets.

Mr. Fitzgerald Cook

Gerente Comercial | Rivera Diesel S.A.

We have been working with HOTSTART since 2006. Since the beginning, the relationship between our companies was something more than the standard between supplier and customer. When we asked them to develop a specific engine heater for our business (production and sales of Generating sets), we found HOTSTART to be very collaborative and fast to respond. During the years, the knowledge between our companies has increased and we can say the relationship has turned into a real collaboration. The replies to our requests are always quick, allowing us to quickly respond to production needs or customer requests.

Massimo Pergolini

Spare Parts and Engine Manager | Compagnia Tecnica Motori S.p.a.

The support that HOTSTART provides allows LionHeart to strive to be the best generator service company in the industry. I can genuinely say that HOTSTART is in the top tier of vendors we work with.

Jack Sobol

Project Solutions Manager | LionHeart Critical Power Specialists

Over the years it has been my pleasure using HOTSTART's products on my customers' equipment. It is companies and products like yours that I have depended on and trusted to give my customers years of dependable service from affordable yet reliable products. I look forward to continuing to provide even more of your products as my customer base grows.

Mark Rushton

Owner | Faithful Power Technologies, LLC