Wall boiler/furnace upgrade advice

Duhibrokeit

Hi, I am needing to replace my heating unit. As of now I have a 55K BTU Apollo air handler off a domestic hot water tank. My "furnace/laundry cubby" makes it not legal to install a forced air gas furnace, because the only way to get a fresh air return is to build a pedestal to install the washer and dryer on, but then I still will not have direct access to the furnace. My kitchen is on the one side, and my bathroom is on the other wall. I've had mixed answers as to my current installation not being up to code as it is. Right now, when it is -20F and colder, the house is difficult to keep above 65 degrees, without the furnace kicking on for 5 minutes every 10 minutes. I have a little princess ultra wood stove with a fresh air intake as my primary heat when I'm home, but it is nice to sometimes be lazy and not deal with wood. I work 2 weeks on/off, and need a reliable unit, if not I'm still planning on getting the watchdog system, for peace of mind. It doesn't really matter, if the furnace goes out, at -40F or colder, everything will freeze in 36 hours anyways.

  

My current room configuration, is 5' wide by 5.5' deep, with the washer and dryer blocking off the access to anything behind them. Washer on the left, with the concentric vent hot water tank behind. Behind the dryer on the floor is my water bladder tank, with the air handler hung from the wall, with the main air intake inside the room on the bottom of the handler. I've had 4 different contractors come out, and two say its legal and 2 say it isn't, because of the gas dryer, in the same room where the return air is pulled from. 

Contractor 1 wanted to installed a 60K BTU forced air gas furnace, with having the return air come from under the washer and dryer. $6,000

Contractor 2 wanted to install a wall hung Baxi combi boiler 130K BTU, and just plumb into the existing plumbing on the air handler. $7,000



My house is 1050 sq ft 3 sided log on a concrete pad, with no ducting upstairs, but boxed in through vents in the floor/ceiling. I have ran one 6" duct up to the hall way upstairs, and in the process of running another 6" duct upstairs to a T and furnishing the 2 upstairs rooms with heat above the door. I only have the closet space to work with, because of the way my floor joists run. As long as I can get some airflow upstairs, it will force the cooler air through the floor vents downstairs. I would like to use the forced air fan side to use in the winter time to circulate the air upstairs when I'm using the wood stove. The upstairs is usually 10-15 degrees cooler, if I do not keep a fan in the hallway with the bedroom doors slightly ajar to force air back down through the rooms.



I do not want to spend the money for a expensive wall boiler, if I can get a more efficient forced air furnace, and pay the extra to have the short amount of duct work completely redone. I plan on keeping the house, but I also want to be practical if I ever rent it out, that the furnace will be practical to replace if things go wrong.



I see a forced air furnace being $1200-1500, but changing all the ducting kills me in labor, but not having direct access to it, kills me on code. I don't understand how when they are installed in attics and below floors, they have "direct" access to them.

The wall boiler, why everyone seems to wan to keep the price of just the boiler top secret baffels me! I know they are $3800-4500.  But with this install, I'd still use the air handler, which is loud, and the fan is already on the lowest speed. Double the cost, but I'm wanting to be practical and also have the most efficient unit for my house. I have also considered 2 direct vent wall units, but they AFUE isn't high enough for our energy rebate programs.



Any advice is appreciated. Thanks.

SWEI

options

Not able to comment on pricing  - it's a board policy here.



Most of us here have a preference for pipes over ducts, so I'll start by asking if there is some way to get plumbing in place along perhaps some panel radiators?  While generally more expensive per square foot than forced air, the result is far more comfortable.



Boilers cost more than furnaces do, but (if properly cared for) they tend to last longer.  What are your utility bills like?

Duhibrokeit

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Double post sorry

Duhibrokeit

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Sorry I wasn't throwing the price out to cause a problem, just showing that both are similar. Just one unit costs more while other unit has more labor for duct work. I have thought about radiators, but as it is now limited to locations for them. My up stairs exterior wall is my roofline with a 2' pony wall, leaving only the interior wall to locate them on. So I'm kinda limited to keeping with a forced air type system for the delivery.



Utility bills... Very good even with some leak issues that I'm fixing.

early winter- elec $45 gas $30

Mid winter- elec $50 gas $65

Summer -elec $30 gas $ 20

I'm not going to make justification in savings because having new doors and triple pane windows are helping. The logs are chunked inside and out. I had some furred out interior walls that were 2x4 and not insulated between wall and logs. but making them 2 x6 with insulation, made big difference.



The only benefit I see with radiator is having 2 zones. But I would lose the ability to move the air around to up stairs when using wood stove.