The Waldorf Astoria Orlando and its sister tower, Signia by Hilton, sit inside Disney’s 482-acre Bonnet Creek nature preserve. Together they field more than 1,500 guest rooms, a three-acre lazy-river pool complex, an 18-hole Rees Jones golf course, and well over 350,000 square feet of meeting space—231,000 ft² in the Signia’s new Waterside wing and another 120,000 ft² next door at the Waldorf. Guests notice the fireworks and the fairways, but none of them stop to think about the steam that keeps showers hot and banquet pans hissing every hour of every day.
1,500 guest rooms, a three-acre lazy-river pool complex, an 18-hole Rees Jones golf course, and well over 350,000 square feet of meeting space—231,000 ft² in the Signia’s new Waterside wing and another 120,000 ft² next door at the Waldorf.
An Aging Plant Meets New Expectations
By late 2024 the hotel’s original York Shipley boilers were still running, but not efficiently. Fuel costs, looming emissions targets, and a desire to shrink the resort’s carbon footprint pushed ownership to seek a wholesale upgrade—without shutting down laundry service or a single guest room. This upgrade would culminate in an AHR Expo “Boiler Room Makeover” tour where HVAC industry aficionados were invited to view the showcase of brand‑new gear designed for energy savings, lower carbon, and higher efficiency.
Enter Keller Mechanical & Engineering
From the first site walk to final paint‑ups, Keller coordinated every trade: riggers easing nine‑foot boiler shells through a basement door, pipe‑fitters tying into existing steam mains, JFB insulators wrapping new lines, and “Magic Brush” painters finishing the room so clean it could pass for a show floor. All of it happened while the resort kept delivering dawn‑to‑midnight hot‑water service to guests who never knew a change‑out was underway.
The Hardware Behind the Curtain
- Two Hurst Series 500 four-pass wet-back boilers—factory-assembled, UL-listed, and shipped with burners already mounted.
- StackMaster™ internal economizers nestled inside each boiler’s rear smoke box, clawing back 2-3 percent of flue-gas heat before it can escape the stack.
- Webster JBS high-turndown burners (12 : 1 on natural gas) paired with Autoflame Mini Mk 8 linkage-less controls that trim fuel-to-air ratios in real time and run the pair in automatic lead–lag.
- Hurst FeedMiser deaerator with DP duplex pumps and a code-compliant blow-down separator equipped with Sterlco® cooling valves.
This mix replaced the two aging York Shipleys in one stroke, checking every box the owners had set: efficiency, emissions, and reliability.
From Factory Floor to Live-Fire Showcase
Because the boilers arrived pre‑wired and pressure‑tested, Keller was able to focus on rigging, tie‑ins, and controls instead of field fabrication. Start‑up wrapped just in time for the 2025 AHR Expo, when hundreds of HVAC pros—bussed straight from the convention center—filed through the immaculate white‑glove plant for a rare, under‑load look at modern steam equipment in hospitality service.
Quiet Wins for Guests and Ownership Alike
- Lower fuel bills and emissions thanks to StackMaster heat recovery and tight combustion control.
- Smoother load response—12 : 1 burner turndown means the plant cruises through pre-dawn laundry spikes and banquet rushes without short-cycling.
- Simpler maintenance—the wet-back design swings open for tube access; no refractory door to rebuild.
- Zero service interruption—Keller’s sequencing kept showers hot and conference coffee flowing throughout the swap-out.
Keller Mechanical & Engineering swapped out our aging York Shipley boilers for two factory-built Hurst Series 500s without the hotel losing a minute of hot water. Their crew rigged, piped, wired, and finished the plant on schedule, then handed us a room that runs cleaner, burns less fuel, and is a breeze to maintain. Couldn’t ask for a better field partner.
The Takeaway
When a luxury resort can replace its entire steam plant and not a single guest notices, the engineering team has done its job. Keller Mechanical & Engineering turned a back‑of‑house necessity into a showcase of efficiency—proof that smart planning, factory‑built equipment, and tight field coordination keep the spotlight where it belongs: on unforgettable vacations, not on the boilers working quietly below.
Let's work together
Joshua T. Bell Vice President
jbell@kellermechanical.com (863) 686-0947