Inn makes repairs with environment in mind

The 1892 Victoria’s Keep Bed & Breakfast Inn is back in business, better — and “greener” — than ever, owners say.

Victoria’s Keep, on Ruxton Avenue in Manitou Springs, was closed for nearly two months after a city water main burst and flooded the property in mid-October.

“Water came over the wall and just started flooding everything,” said Karen Cullen, who owns the business with her husband, Jay Rohrer. The basement, home to the furnace and other mechanical systems, was most affected. Flooring in a first-floor guest room, a bathroom and the dining room was also damaged and had to be replaced or refinished.

“It took about five weeks just to get the place actually dry,” Cullen said.

The bed and breakfast reopened in December in time for the holidays — though without many decorations because they had been stored in the basement and were lost to the flooding.

The owners have spent about $50,000 on repairs. They got help from neighboring Miramont Castle and Research and Investigation of the Paranormal, which donated proceeds from the Victorian Wake for Emma Crawford event held in late October.

In replacing the inn’s mechanical systems, Cullen and Rohrer chose a high-efficiency furnace and two tankless water heaters.

“We used to have two 50-gallon hotwater heaters that were constantly heating hot water, and now we have two tankless hot-water heaters that only heat water on demand,” Cullen said.

Water heating accounts for as much as 25 percent of the energy consumed in a home, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Tankless water heaters, also known as demand water heaters, can be 34 percent more energy-efficient than conventional storage tank water heaters.

A tankless system can cost more than double a conventional one, but it avoids the waste of energy that can occur when water is constantly heated in a tank.

In the tankless system, cold water travels through a pipe into the unit and is heated by a gas burner or an electric element once a hot-water tap is turned on.

Victoria’s Keep has gone green in other ways as well. As incandescent light bulbs burn out, they’re being replaced with energy-saving compact fluorescent bulbs. And the staff is using EcoSense cleaning products.

“They’re all environmentally safe,” said Victoria’s Keep employee Heather Hildago. “They have no phosphorus, no bleach. We use it in our laundry, our dish washing and in the cleaning of our rooms.”

There were two reasons for the more environment-friendly approach, Cullen said.

“The first is that we all need to be conscientious of our environment and our usage, and taking steps to conserve is a good idea.”

The other reason, she said, is a pocketbook issue.

“Eventually, we will see a return on our investment for the usage of less energy, reducing our overall cost.”

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0272 or bill.radford@gazette.com