new gas fired boilers

ctoldhouse

I will be replacing my oil fired steam boiler soon. As a building contractor, i would like to by the replacement from a supply house where i have an account. So the options would be weil-mclain EG-35 or slantfin galaxy gxha-120. These are about the only gas fired units available through them. I would love any opinions or experiences with these boilers. Also any other suggestions from these brands.

Thanks-

John

Steamhead

Slant/Fin

has also approved its Intrepid series for use with power gas burners- normally they are sold as oil-fired units. In your case, you would order an Intrepid TR-30 steamer with probe-type low-water cutoff and less burner, then order an EZ-Gas from Carlin or an EC-200 from Midco to go with it. You would also need a gas-type double-swing barometric and a blocked-flue switch to mount onto the barometric- both are standard Field units.



The Galaxy and EG-35 you mentioned are atmospheric dry-base gas boilers. The burners on these things don't mix air and gas as well as a power gas burner, so they need more excess air for a clean burn with no CO. Also, the burners are located completely below the cast-iron sections, so this type of boiler loses a lot of heat out the base. This is great for warming your feet while working on them, but you want that heat to go to your radiators. Interestingly, the DOE's AFUE ratings don't consider this base loss to be a problem since the heat is released inside the house. But we all know that heat released into the basement rarely makes it upstairs.



The advantages to using the Intrepid with power gas burner are that the cast-iron almost completely surrounds the flame, and that the power burner mixes air and gas much more effectively. These two factors combined, mean the Intrepid/power burner combination offers a better thermal efficiency than the atmospheric- typically 6-7% better, which is not chump change any more.



Here are some pics of gas-fired Intrepids we've installed. The blue burners are Carlins and the grays are Midco. My partner Gordo is doing his impression of the guy in the Slant/Fin ads.