Better hot water options - residential

Rod Kotiga

Yeah, lose the tank all together and use a flash water heater. Storing water is so last year. (ha ha) I love mine, it only fires when I need hot water and for how ever long I want it too !

Rod at Piping Hot

Tim Weaver

Not quite heating, but closely related. I currently have a traditional 50 gallon tank to go with my single pipe steam system. Most plumbers are not recommending an indirect with steam and are saying stick with a tank.

Should I go with something like http://www.triangletube.com/HeatMasterCommercial/CommercialHMOverview.htm
Anyone know how much added cost there is with one of these? Is there any energy savings? Maybe I could downsize to a 40 gallon with such a high recovery.

What other choices would work with steam heat?

I have 3.5 baths with a possibility of going to a full 4 baths down the road. 50 gallons was completely adequate in the past.

Tim Weaver

Do you mean on-demand? I realize from an energy point of view this is better, but I hear of numerous reliability issues. They also cost a lot up front and can be hard to vent in an older home.

Rod Kotiga

Well everthing has it's place that's for sure but if you can put it on an outside wall and side wall vent it then life is good. It's always nice to have the boiler work less, alot less. The money saved will pay for the tankless heater in the long run. Just a thought.

Rod

Tim Weaver

I am too low to the ground in the basement for an on-demand (I think). The boiler doesn't work with a tank, but there are newer tank options with better designs such as the one I linked to.

Steamhead (in transit)

SuperStor indirect tank

as I understand it, this is a good choice for use with a steam boiler- the coil is low enough that it should be below the boiler's waterline.

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Tim Weaver

Isn't the coil placement a function of the boiler design and not the tank or am I confused?

If you have two boilers in a 1/3 and 2/3 size which one should have an indirect?

Is it really more efficient to have an indirect? It means one boiler will be up an running year round. How does one keep the steam from circulating when one only wants hot water? or does the boiler not fire long enough to make steam?

Steamhead (in transit)

Not in the boiler

the coil in the SuperStor indirect is located in the tank. You run boiler water thru the coil.

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steve_173

Interesting. So with steam do you need some sort of pump? How does the boiler feeder know how much extra water to include for the tank loop? How much efficiency does this take away from the boiler? Would you put this on the larger or smaller boiler in a two boiler system?

How do you size this type of water heater with a steam system? Is this cost competitive with a standard water heater?

Thanks for your ideas.