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Questions for replacing...

Cougarman
Cougarman Member Posts: 3
in THE MAIN WALL
Hello to all,

Brand new to this forum and looking for advice. I presently have a Burnham RS125 dry base steel unit with 3.0 gpm tankless heater. This boiler has been maintained faithfully for the 29 years it's been in use. Right from the inception the tech's have used a .85/80 w nozzle. I have had no problems with domestic hot water or calcification with the tankless coil even though we have an artesian well. I heat an 1800 sq. ft. house with 100 ft. of 3/4 Slant Fin baseboard radiation. One master bedrm. and bath on second level has no baseboard at all. I use a floor vent for the bath which is directly above the boiler room on 1st floor ( house has no cellar )  and natural heat rise for master bedroom. Works out well for us.  I use two 330 gl. tanks that are outside about 35-38 ft. from the boiler. I treat the oil with HEAT at every fill and utilize a tiger-loop right after the filter inside. Never an issue.  Now some questions :

1) I know that sooner or later I will have to replace this unit and because of space restirctions I can only use a front mounted tankless or top mounted like I have now ( can' t seem to find these anymore.)  What would some suggest as to what brand and style - dry base or wet base cast iron or wet leg steel?

2) I know this boiler was oversized from the start but the thinking was to have a volume of atleast a 13 gal. tank to support the tankless unit. Hence the 125 BTU. boiler.  Should this still apply?  My choices right now are - the Burnham RSA110 or Weil-mc. wtgo-3P - or ThermoDynamics CWL .85 wet leg.  Sorry this is a bit long but I like to do my research and ask question first. So I'll stop here for now. Thanks to all that respond.

Rick

Comments

  • Eric_32
    Eric_32 Member Posts: 267
    The smallest oil fired boiler..

    that we have installed has been the Crown Freeport ODV boiler, which can mount on top of a 40 or 50gallon horizontal Mega Stor indirect water heater.  It is extremely quiet and a 3-pass. However is direct vent I believe it may be installed in a chimny if it is sleeved. Been a good dependable boiler for the customer.

    It is 26" tall, without the indirect, and another 24 with. They do not offer it in a tankless.

    http://www.crownboiler.com/products/brochures/Freeport%20ODV%202010.pdf

    http://www.crownboiler.com/products/brochures/MegaStor.pdf
  • billtwocase
    billtwocase Member Posts: 2,385
    replacement

    Those RS series Burnhams hold up well, and came with 5 GPM  tankless coils originally. Out of the 3 you listed for replacement boilers, my choice would be the W/M Gold series with a Carlin EZ-1. Have it set up rear flue. Like I said they held up good, but mainly a spec house boiler. Low efficiency, chamber problems, high stack temp to name a few.
  • meplumber
    meplumber Member Posts: 678
    Have you considered a gas wall hung boiler.

    Alot of those units have combi operation and many of them have a small DHW tank inside to provide a buffer.



    The Pennsotti Solara comes to mind, The NTI Trinity has one, and there are others.  The down side is that you lose the boiler room heat that is heating your bathroom.  But from an efficiency standpoint, you could probably recover the cost of adding some radiation in those rooms in the fuel you would save. 



    Compare oil and natural or propane cost per therm in your area and give it a look.  It appears that you have a pretty low heat loss.  The modulating ability of the gas units would allow the fire to match the heat loss of the building per outside air temp.



    Just another option for you to consider.
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