which indirect tank? stainless vs glass/stone, coils vs tank?

yeldarb

I'm trying to decide which brand/model of indirect domestic hot water heater to use in a system to be installed later this year (boiler will be Peerless PureFire 110.) I've got proposals from several installers, it seems each one is proposing a different indirect tank!

Peerless Partner 40 (stainless, PP has stainless coil, new PT series has tank-in-tank design)

New Yorker 35SL (Hydrastone lined)

Buderus S-32 (glass-lined, w/ anode rod)

Bock SK40 (glass-lined, 2 anode rods)

Burnham Alliance 35SL (same as New Yorker?)

Crown MS-40 (Mega Stor)



I'm not sure what criteria I should use to inform my decision making on this. Some preliminary research including reading this page <a href="http://www.heatinghelp.com/forum-thread/138595/Glass-Lined-versus-Stainless-Steel-Indirect-HW-Heater">http://www.heatinghelp.com/forum-thread/138595/Glass-Lined-versus-Stainless-Steel-Indirect-HW-Heater</a> suggests that stainless has better heat transfer, but could have problems with high levels of chlorides in the water supply? (we have municipal water <a href="http://northpennwater.org/uploads/MAIN-WQR-WEB-2011.pdf">http://northpennwater.org/uploads/MAIN-WQR-WEB-2011.pdf</a> ) Glass is less susceptible to damage from water minerals, but requires periodic replacement of the anode rods. There may be some concern about discoloration of the water and fixture staining due to "stone" lining of some tanks. Are any of these genuine concerns?



I'm leaning toward the Peerless simply because it "matches" the boiler I'm getting, and is the size I want (40 gal - we have a family of 4 including two teenagers.) Apparently Peerless recently switched the design of the Partner from a stainless coil-in-tank, to a tank-in-tank design. Any comments on pros/cons of one over the other?



I'm not sure whether it's permissible to comment on specific brands on this forum (I hope so!), but if not then please comment generally on the pros/cons of stainless vs glass/ceramic, etc.

heatpro02920

I would go with the

Peerless, I install Triangle tube smart tanks, they are the same thing, work very well...

yeldarb

Peerless / TriangleTube

Ah. I see (was just looking at the Triangle Tube web site.)



Can you explain to me why in Peerless' Install manual for the Partner, the piping diagram shows the circulator on the return side of the boiler? (not pumping away!). I thought I had learned something from Holohan, now I'm confused again.



EDIT: Nevermind, I recognize it's a primary/secondary setup (I guess that's why my installer proposals all listed three circulators.)