Aspen aspnc-155, anyone ever install this model

mleads310

I'm looking to upgrade my oil heating system to a gas combi. If I had the room I would go with a boiler plus indirect. But I'm tight for space and trying to get an idea as to which model etc. I reviewed hundreds of stories here and still more confused then before. I live in nyc area 2200sqft 3zone single family home built in the 40's. Haven't determined a great loss calculation but I do know the insulation in the house sucks. Fin baseboards thru out house 3 floors. 2 showers ruining at same time(low pressure fixtures)

I came across the USboiler Aspen model aspnc-155 mbh. Anyone have experience with this unit?

Ironman

That boiler will be over-sized for space heating and insufficient for domestic. Add zoning, and the over sizing is compounded.

They make low boy indirects. Either that, or find another place for the indirect, but don't try to make a square peg fit in a round hole by using a combi that won't be right for either load.

mleads310

Thank you Ironman for the quick responce. Back to the drawing board on a boiler+indirect and finding room to fit. This might be a silly question but will a 40or50gal indirect tank provide continuous(maybe I should say sufficient supply) of hot water as compared to a standard hot water tank considering the efficiency of the indirect and how it works? For example 50gal indirect would supply me the same continuous supply of hot water as a 70gal standard tank? The reason I ask is because if i get a "low boy"as you suggest I might be able to fit a 40 or 50gal tank, but would need it to be able to supply hot water as if it were a 70gal standard tank. (Wife kids and tenant downstairs take long showers. Sometimes simultaneously.
Thanks again

kalex1114

You can install a mixing valve on the hot water supply side and that will give you extra capacity. By doing that you can keep your tank at 140f or little higher and mix it down to 110-120 when in use.

bob eck

Vaughn has a 10 gallon indirect water heater. This indirect is only 20 1/4” high. You might be able to put a condensing boiler up on the wall and the Vaughn indirect water heater under it.
This Vaughn model is stone lined. They also have larger size models 30, 35, 50, 70 gallon residential models and 65, 80, 119 gallon commercial models.
Vaughn just came out with a plastic indirect water heater called the Featherweight. So far 30 gallon is the smallest.

Ironman

Just a rough estimate, but you probably need 65k to 75k btus to heat your home. So, a 155k btu boiler is twice what you need. Bigger is NOT better in Boiler Land. Zoning will complicate it because when only one small zone is calling, the boiler will be that much more over-sized.

You need to do a scientific heat loss calc. You can download a free app front SlantFin that is decent.

You also need to do a radiation survey by measuring how much actual baseboard element you have (not the length of the enclosures, but the finned part).

Comparing the two will tell how well the radiation is sized to the actual heat loss of the structure. The BBs may NOT be sufficient and may need more element added. Quite often in older homes with oil boilers, the BBs were marginal and the oil boiler was cranked up to 195*+ to compensate. You can't do that with most mod/cons and in fact, you don't want to. The cooler return water temp, the more efficient the mod/con will be. Having over-sized radiation will be a plus since it can run lower RWT.

As far domestic, two showers with water saver heads equates to 4 gpm of hot water. You get about 80% of a tanks capacity that's useable. That means 32 gal from a 40 gal tank. At 4 gpm, it's depleted in 8 minutes. The boiler MUST be sized to the building heat loss unless you've got high mass, which you don't: BBs are low mass. If you had an 80k btu boiler, it could provide about 2 gpm constant hot water from the indirect, in addition to its storage capacity. So after you deplete the tank so to speak, the boiler could deliver enough btus to it to make 2 gpm. This is normally more than sufficient for even a large family!

I have seven children (six girls). A 50 gas fired water heater sufficed through all the teenage years. If it started to run low, they learned to wait 15 minutes between showers. Or, take them at different times of the day. Life style adjustments are much easier than most folks think.

mleads310

Honestly can't thank you guys enough for the responses. And thanks to ironman for going into detail on personal system use in his home. Now only if you could refer me to a reputable company/person who works in my area of Brooklyn NY......ok maybe I'm asking for too much lol. I guess the good news is that i know that i need to Gather some more information or have someone come in and do the proper calculations for estimates. Also I'm not looking to have the work done till April,slow season. Bad news is that gives me 4months to drive myself crazy with info,specs,models etc on the computer.

Ironman

The "Find a Contractor" tab above.

mleads310

Did that it gave me one company

mleads310

Not to say i don't appreciate the one company but in my area of Brooklyn if you're not within ten miles you might as well be100 miles away as far as companies are concerned

Ironman

There are several men on here that cover Brooklyn.

Maybe start a new titled: "Looking for Someone In Brooklyn For Boiler Replacement".

rbeck

The Aspen will supply about 4 GPM continuous draw of HW. FYI this is a 10:1 turndown boiler so it turns down to 15,500 btu's.

mleads310

Ironman thank you again. i wasn't sure if i was able to start a thread like that. I will definitely do so now.
Rbeck thank you for the info on the aspen.

EBEBRATT-Ed

@mleads310

what @Ironman

gave you as advise is excellent. Stick to that and find a good contractor and you will have a successful installation