Adding Indirect Fired to older boiler

Dave_144

Thanks for the reply Ron. Yes, there's a hot water coil in the boiler. It's an Everhot All Copper and I believe it's been replaced once already as the sticker says '88 but the furnace is older than that. (BTW is there any way to tell the age of the furnace and if it's a cast or steel unit?)

So it sounds like even with not going to cold start, just keeping it set to low, that we'd see a noticeable increase in efficiency with the indirect fired? Interestingly we don't ever run out of hot water with the current set up (and have 2 teens that constantly shower), but the burner is always running at that time. We were also told that the Super Stor has a lifetime warranty, but I'm not sure if that applies if we buy it used?

Dave_144

Indirect Fired addition to old boiler worth it?

Hi All, We have a older Smith Pac "Fourteen" boiler with DHW that we are considering converting to a indirect fired 45 Gallon Super Stor tank in hopes of increasing system efficiency. It sounded like a good idea initially, but after reading many posts on this and other sites, I'm now starting to wonder.

Our initial hope was to convert to cold start, but it seems that these older boilers (not sure if this one is steel or cast) have a good chance of leaking, along with thermal shock and condensation, etc being an issue. So would adjusting down the aquastat (a Honeywell L8024A oldie) as low as possible (in the summer at least) make it worth the effort?

The Super Stor tank is 6 years old and we could get it for $250 so I'm wondering if that's a good deal and may be worth getting regardless? If we were to upgrade in the future, that's one less thing we'd have to buy?

Thanks in advance for any assistance. A big part of my hesitation is not wanting to upset this older boiler, but if adding the indirect fired, even not converting to cold start, makes sense in terms of efficiency, I'll go ahead based on what you guys think.

Unknown

Hi Dave

What are you using for hot water now ? Coil in the boiler ?

We install indirects on old boilers quite often . You always run the risk of disturbing pipes and fittings and causing a leak when connecting to the old . But I'd go for it anyway . If you were maintaining a high temp all year round you'll definitely save some fuel by lowering the settings . And probably have a hell of alot more hot water . Keep some temp in the old baby . Set the Low dial to its lowest setting . Chances are if you did make it cold start there'd always be some heat in the boiler with the indirect hooked into it . But you don't want to take that chance with an old boiler and old gaskets .

If there's a coil in the boiler , keep it connected and shut the valve on the inlet . Just in case the used indirect craps out you'll have backup hot water .

carter_3

cold start?

if adding indirect heater to the boiler the boiler would alaways have temp.the bigger savings would probably be upgrading your equipment period.most smiths were/are cast iron boilers.

Dave_144

You're spot on Jim, would love to upgrade to a more efficient unit (wouldn't be difficult efficiency wise) but it's not in the financial cards in the near future, so we were hoping to add more efficiency/less oil usage with the indirect... And I figured that this tank could be a part of a new system that uses indirect, no? Based on prices I could find, it seemed like $250 was a good deal?

If what you say is true with it being warm all the time even in cold start mode with the indirect, that could help a lot?

Bob Bona_4

yes

go for it. Pipe/wire it right and you can change the boiler as soon as the budget allows. Just turn the low limit down all the way, or convert to a cold start, like Ron Jr. says, the boiler won't get that "cold" between indirect calls.

Can't go wrong w/ the 250 buck tank, if it doesn't pan out, you still have the piping there.

Tombig_4

Don't set the low limit below about 120 or you will risk condensation. Set the differential to 25 to reduce cycling in standby.

Ron