electric boilers options

pinacate

We are putting in a 1600 sq ft new build in northern New Mexico (at 6000') with a slab floor and radiant heat. We plan to have grid-tied solar panels. It seems to make more sense to put in an electric boiler than gas (propane) but electric boilers seem to be uncommon here and we're not finding much information about brands etc. Any suggestions about which electric boiler to use and options for domestic water heating? Thanks

hot_rod

ElectroMN, Thermo2000, and Thermolec are a few of my favorite.

Thanks to DeltaT for providing this spreadsheet to compare fuel costs.

How many KW of PV, are you trying to cover the heat load?

Run a load calculation to see what you are up against.

Kurt at Southwest Energy Integrators in Silver City has experience with electric radiant systems in your area.

Tinman

I’ve installed the Electro boilers. Liked them and would use them again.

GroundUp

Electro boilers are made just 40 miles from my house and I frequent the factory. I probably install 15-20 Electro units a year and aside from one small snafu with a test jumper being left on the board at the factory (once troubleshot, took 10 seconds to fix by simply removing the jumper), have had zero callbacks or issues. I haven't used a Thermolec but have heard pretty good things about them. A competitor of mine installs Stiebel Eltron electric units and after seeing the shelf life of a lot of those, I would definitely not recommend. A few months ago I was called out to troubleshoot one of them and found the entire board burnt to a crisp and the plywood it was mounted on also charred. Doesn't seem like a great choice to me

jumper

I'd price an ordinary storage tank water heater. With low pressure and recirculated water the tank should last forever. I'd also eliminate grid-tied expense by wiring the elements directly to solar panels. With a big enough tank and hot enough water there should be enough energy storage. If not then you switch on the grid connected elements. Somebody pays for inverters,switchgear interconnects, and fancy electric meters.

Jamie Hall

Seems to me there was another thread on this recently. I noted there, and will again, that the most significant factor to consider is power and energy demand; unless your solar panels are rather large and you have major battery capacity, you may find on running the numbers that you will need that grid tie rather badly. It may still be better than propane for you, but run the numbers and costs.

jumper

Agree with Jamie that going off the grid can be scary. What I suggested is to save the costs,initial and ongoing, of inverters,batteries and interconnects. Enjoy solar with simple DC resistance heaters. Hot water energy storage is more efficient (1st Law anyhow), cheaper,more reliable,longer lasting than batteries. Crew of atomic submarine Thresher died unpleasantly on account of batteries.

Jamie Hall said:

Seems to me there was another thread on this recently. I noted there, and will again, that the most significant factor to consider is power and energy demand; unless your solar panels are rather large and you have major battery capacity, you may find on running the numbers that you will need that grid tie rather badly. It may still be better than propane for you, but run the numbers and costs.

Off topic somewhat: abandoning coal and atomic fired electric production is also scary. A perfect storm in January....