side arm heat exchanger

andrew123

does anybody know of disadvantages of a side arm heat x,want to connect it from a cgi 8 pin that is now running 2 air handlers only,to an existing electric storage tank.

heatpro02920

What about the summer?

When you are not running heat are you going to run the boiler just for the electric water tank?



Is cost an issue, because if not an indirect would be a much better way to go. And as far as side arm exchangers I would rather use a brazed plate system... Installs the same way...



When you start to add up the costs, I think you will see a real indirect is the better way to go, by the time you buy the heat exchanger the bronze pump, the check valve, the control {if you are going to run it on its own circ., and all the piping/fittings, I'll bet an indirect is less money and much less work, with no guessing...

andrew123

keep electric as storage

owner wants to keep the electric as storage in case the boiler is down for any period,he can re-power electric.never seen a side arm installed with stainless pump,which i would have to with a flat plate i believe,cost,side arm is half the price of the flat plate,plus stainless pump,easy change to indirect when the electric storage blows a whole in tank.

heatpro02920

I pay about the same

for a plate vs side arm {can get both under $200}... I used to use side arms with the outdoor wood boilers{with no domestic pump}, but they are slow and if you have a large load in a short amount of time, you will run out quickly... With a plate exchanger and pump you dont have this problem, its almost instant...



My point is, you can keep the electric tank installed and install an inexpensive indirect {Heat-flo 30}, the results will be much better than any type of plate or sidearm exchanger.. For a little more money you get a smart tank... But you can easily keep the electric tank as an aux. if they have the space... The only reason I would use a plate or side arm exchanger is if they had solar, wood fired, ect and wanted to get the most they could out of the extra energy.. But to fire a gas boiler doesnt make much sense unless you are short on space.... You are much better off with the circulator by the way, I know side arms dont require them they work on convection but you get better results with a circulator and I find they go longer with out clogging with a circ for some reason...



Try to talk your customer into an indirect next to their boiler...