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Hospitals have been using steam for more than 100 years, especially for laundry, humidification, heating, hot water, and sterilization. Like most businesses today, hospitals have energy efficiency and sustainability targets to meet. You may wonder, should hospitals continue to use steam today?

Listed below is a short list of reasons that steam is very beneficial and energy efficient for hospitals.

1. Steam is as an efficient and controllable heating medium, proven to be reliable, safe, flexible, and sterile.
2. Healthcare facilities are in operation twenty-four hours a day, every day. The energy demand is very high. Steam is the best medium for a healthcare facility, as it moves large amounts of energy throughout the facility very quickly and easily.
3. Steam is a powerful, highly efficient thermal energy transfer medium. It is natural, and once all heat from steam is used you are left with water in the form of condensate.
4. Steam is inherently safe in ATEX identified hazardous areas, with no risks of sparks and no flammable gases or flames.
5. Steam typically contains 26 times more energy per pound than water.
6. Steam requires much smaller pipes than water for the same energy. Unlike hot water systems, steam systems do not require electricity to run circulation pumps.
7. Steam has a high coefficient of heat transfer.
8. For humidification, steam provides low maintenance costs. Not only do water humidification systems suffer scaling and corrosion, but Legionella is an ever-present concern that does not arise with steam.
9. Modern steam systems give easy and accurate temperature control. No system balancing and no differential pressure controls are needed.
10. The latest automated monitoring systems and automated boiler house controls mean steam systems are easier to maintain and need minimal manpower to maintain peak operating efficiency.
11. Innovation in steam plant control and monitoring technology in recent years provides new ways for hospitals to substantially improve the efficiency of existing systems, to help reduce energy use and lower carbon emissions.
12. Steam is chemical-free and is very safe for sterilization. The World Health Organization advises “the preferred method for sterilization of heat-resistant critical devices is steam/moist heat sterilization.”