HTP ModCon retrofit

Henry

We finished this makeover a few weeks ago. There were two LAARS 1.3 million BTU piped reverse return but pumping through an old Volcano fire-tube. It was a great way to heat up the mechanical room. There also was a Raypak 330,000 BTU hot water booster.

We removed everything including the incinerator burner, washed and then painted the room. We installed 4 HTP Mod Con 500. One of the boilers feeds a 400,000 BTU brazed plate heat exchanger that then feeds the existing three storage tanks. By removing all the unnecessary vent connectors and pipes and with the new paint, the room is now brighter.



One of the zone circulators was installed at some point,  backwards!

Rich_49

Pretty

they do plumb and chain together so nice .  Surprised you didn't use the mod con double stacks .  This job will without a doubt please the owners and accountants .

Rich_49

6 years

is a damn sight shy of the HTP warranty .  These are boilers BC and HTP has been around for awhile . I use a whole lot of HTP and have run across few problems with them .  All manufacturers pretty much only go a year with other than the heat exchanger .  As far as AO Smith is concerned they do not make a single modulating condensing product so it's not even comparable . Lots of AO Smith stuff is also made in Mexico , for what it's worth HTP is assembled right here in the good old US .  How many products does AO Smith warranty for life ?  Don't know where you heard that the warranty on this unit was less than 6 years but take a look at the warranty as published by HTP  .

http://www.htproducts.com/literature/lp-231.pdf



 As far as confidence goes there is not one manufacturer that I can think of that has not had a problem product . As a matter of fact most failures I have seen were caused by the installer by either not doing something he should have or not knowing quite as much as he should have .  

Rich_49

Versa Flame

is quite a unit indeed .  As far as you performing the exact same installation using a GPVX makes me wonder .  What I wonder is how will you make it similar to a Versa Flame that has low head loss and no HX for space heating and relies on street pressure or well pressure to push water through the DHW side of the HX  and has a matched pump included that is wired to perform at the factory , by the way that pump is a Taco product .  Seems to me that an exact same install is not possible . You will need to purchase 2 pumps and an HX for space heating side , an outdoor reset mixing valve and a control to enable you to DHW priority which you will need . You will have an HX penalty for your space heating , a glass lined tank which are known to fail , an anode rod which will need to be replaced and be dealing with a company who is notoriously terrible with warranty exclusion excuses .  No sir you cannot perform exactly the same installation as a Versa Flame as with the unit you are using , a better comparison would be the Versa Hydro but how would you know that . 

AO Smith  primary function / hot water , uses mass in tank for space heating

Versa Hydro  primary function / hot water uses mass in tank for space heating

Versa Flame   primary function / space heating uses mass in tank for DHW production .

  You would do better to purchase an HTP Pioneer and use the same theory that you have for the AO , it will cost you 900.00 more but you will have the mod con , SS , and low head loss for space heating and much less chance of replacement . Do the math for that equation my friend and don't forget wire to water efficiency in your designs .

  If this is your own home I ask the following ;  How tight is the house ?  Why would you put something of lesser quality in your own home to save money when the better product saves you more money right from install date ? The only parts other than the tank in the AO are a gas valve and fan where as the HTP products have controls , logic and technology built in so how are the warranties even remotely similar ?  

Sounds to me like you would like to eat a nice buttered croissant but are willing to settle for a stale dry hard roll cause its cheaper , you can spend your effort and time trying to make it taste like the croissant but it's still just a stale roll .

When you look at the whole picture you will spend as much for the AO as for a quality HTP product but you will suffer performance wise . Have fun .   

  We have hijacked this man's  thread enough with this , please start a new one if you wish to get further opinion  

icesailor

HTP: How long:

How long have YOU been around? HTP/Heat Transfer Products were the first US company to start using Giananni stainless steel heat exchangers from Italy in their brand of "Munchkin" Mod-Con boilers back in the 1990's. They were the Go-To boiler for replacements for Heatmaker ll's when they went South. They also were the ones that developed the Stainless Steel "SuperStor" Indirect water heaters. The perfect fit for the Heatmaker ll replacements that had the internal hot water tank. And it was still a separate tank for Potable hot water. Actually, an indirect coil in a boiler water tank.

Heavy lobbying by some water heater manufacturers and the spec condo builders (usually means large sums of money changed hands) got it allowed over the objections of knowledgeable plumbing and health officials. Want some Legionella with your coffee in the morning through that single lever kitchen mixer that always lets a little hot water mix with the cold? How's that Legionella work on your compromised immune system when you have the flu or a compromised immune system?

Some wonder what will be happening when a retired couple purchases a home/unit with a combo unit, how they like that Legionella additive with their water as they get older.

But lobbyist know best. They live by the Golden Rule. He who owns the gold, sets the rules. The rest of us can just shut up.