Crown Boilers?

Hoog23

My plumber is recommending Crown.  I have never heard of them but it looks like they have been around a while. 



Any comments on them?



I have a single pipe steam system.  I already have gas service and intend to convert from oil to gas. 



Thanks

Al Letellier_21

crown boilers

I have installed hundreds and seen thousands of boilers in my career as a heating contractor and consultant and have never had an issue with a Crown boiler. They seem to be a pretty good product and indeed have been around for a while. Not familiar with their product line so I would assume they have a boiler rated for gas. I wouldn't hestitate to recommend one even though I have used a different  boiler line for many years.

Charlie from wmass

I will chime in

It is seldom the boiler but the installer that makes the difference in how a system runs. Please look under Resources and the homeowner section. A low grade boiler installed well is better than a top of the line boiler installed wrong.

Hoog23

No lucking finding anyone

I had no luck when I tried to find someone local to me (Westchester County NY)  using this site.



My current system is a old Thatcher (30's?) with a Weil-McLane burner (80s).  Besides being old I have not had any issues with it (nicknamed it the Green Monster).  So I am a bit apprehensive in replacing it.   Is there anything I can do to make it more efficient?  My basement oil tank is original and I planned to replace it this summer for safety's sake.  I can however convert to high efficiency gas with indirect HW and get $2800 in rebates and free up the space that the tank takes up.  I currently have adequate gas service to handle a boiler.

Steamhead

On a steam system

most boiler makers, including Crown, only offer atmospheric dry-base boilers which are not that efficient.



The most efficient residential gas-fired steamers are wet-base, power-burner types which have more heat-transfer surface and better control over combustion. The Smith G-8 and Slant/Fin Intrepid are both factory approved for use with power gas burners. Here we see them with Carlin EZ-Gas units.



If you stay with oil, the Burnham MegaSteam is the best. Unfortunately, Burnham hasn't seen fit to market it with a gas burner. If they did, they'd likely own most of the market.



How about some pics of the Green Monster?

Hoog23

Pics

Well it looks like my burner is a Beckett not a Weil and yes the sight glass is leaking.



The IBR tag reads: 

Steam Square Feet = 650

Water Sq Feet = 1040

Model = 018a

Hoog23

Researching Power Gas

Well myself and my plumber have not had a lot of luck getting info on the G-8 or Intrepid gas.



Are we basically looking at purchasing the boiler and burner separately?  I called SF and they gave me the number for Heatwise.  It didn't sound like they had any documentation.  I did manage to dig up a sheet from Smith on the G8 with the EZ gas.

Steamhead

Not as far-fetched as it sounds

Many boiler manufacturers offer several burners on their boilers so an installer can use his favorite (Beckett, Carlin, Riello, you get the idea) and this is really no different. Here, you'd order the boiler less the burner, and get the gas burner from Carlin or HeatWise. I know Carlin offers EZ-Gas burners with the proper air tubes and mounting flanges for both these boilers, not sure about HeatWise. But they are both good burners.



We'll start seeing more of these as rising efficiency standards outlaw atmospheric boilers.

Hoog23

Efficiency ratings?

Do any of the manufacturers have the efficiency ratings for these configurations published? I will contact Carlin and Heatwise tomorrow. thanks

Steamhead

Depends on what rating you're looking for

Thermal efficiency is in their rating charts- it's the DOE output rating as a percentage of the input rating. You have to do the math yourself, but the wet-base/power-burner types run 86% or so, whereas atmospherics run 80-82%.



I've only seen gas-power-burner AFUE ratings on Solaia boilers, which are only hot-water models. On these, I believe the AFUE ratings drop by about one percent on gas as opposed to oil. That's still better than atmospherics' 80-81% AFUE ratings. I'll post some of these when I find them.



The differences don't sound like much, but with rising fuel costs every little bit helps.

Hoog23

Tankless?

Boy is it hard to find info on the G8 or SF EZ-Gas retrofit combo.



The guy I spoke to at SF was useless.  At least the guy at Smith gave me the name of the local manufacturers rep who was helpful and gave me the name of a distributer.



My green monster is currently tankless.  I see that the G8 has a tankless option.  I realize that I will never be able to look up the flow capacities for my ancient boiler.  Would I be disappointed compared to installing an indirect?  Is this solution more/less efficient?



Thanks

RDSTEAM

crown boilers

are pretty solid boilers and will run for a long time with the right installation and care. crown bermuda is their steam line. i'm pretty sure they have a size thats right around your demand. make sure your plumber is doing a system sizing. if you need to know how its done just ask, we shall assist.

Steamhead

Indirect is the way to go

the best one for a steamer is the SuperStor Ultra, since its coil is lower than the usual boiler's waterline. Here's a shot of one we installed, with a G-8.

Charlie from wmass

even in the realm of atmospheric boilers

The ratings for crown seem pretty low. Did I read it right that they were under 81%. Frank with the G8 and the Slantfin I was thinking it would be better to go a section larger and fire at the needed rating for the load. The Trio water boiler does this when it is fired with a gas burner and the efficiency stays in the mid 80's.

Steamhead

We do that a lot with the Intrepid

because there's fairly large gap between sizes. Not so much with the Smith, since the gas version uses the lower of the two firing rates used with oil.