New Boiler- Navien

Nysteamer

Hello Everyone,

First, I just want to say what an amazing group of experts are present on this site, and as a homeowner and DIY'er, I am glad to have found Dan's books and information to help me understand my boiler and boiler's of the future. I have only expanded ten-fold from my since limited knowledge because of Dan and everyone.. so I thank you sincerely.

My question I have for you is this.... A house I purchased has a New Yorker boiler.. which btw has been quite the work for me to figure out due to limited information around the web and even on here... This boiler was piped with a hot water zone to baseboards in the basement, this piping did not follow the rules found in Dan's post at all, I could begin to point out the faults but what I decided to do, was end that cycle. I am looking for a second boiler at recommendation from another post I came across here, as a better option to heat the basement. I am looking for a wall mount that I could have installed quickly and be a cost effective replacement to what was (The poor condensate loop for a boiler unable to provide the btus to support steam and the loop).

I have seen your recommendations, Viessmann, Knight, Triangle, these look like well respected companies that have excellent products. The problem is they cost an arm and a leg for me right now.

I found the Navien NHB-55 to be a good looking boiler, it has enough btus to support the basement and a second loop if needed.

What do you think of this.
https://navieninc.com/products/nhb-55

Ironman

Please edit your post to remove the pricing; discussing that is against site rules.

Selecting a boiler involves considerably more than looking at the price. The boiler should be sized according the actual heat loss of the area it will service.

I would caution not to take the approach you're considering as to purchasing the boiler yourself and then trying to find an installer. Almost always, a good pro will never agree to that and you're gonna get a hack instead - especially at the price you're expecting.

lchmb

Between layout, planning, sizing and proper parts required, your not even close to the total cost of a system. Your pointing out the issues with the first install and as ironman commented, if you go this route will now have 2 mickey moused systems... Have a steam pro come in, look the system over and make recommendations.. you may have to pay a few bucks for the estimate but the options given will be 10 times better than just shooting from the hip..

Nysteamer

My apologies for the pricing. I appreciate what you guys are saying, but the real question in the post is.. What do you think about Navien as a company regardless if I buy directly or through a contract.

Thank You

cj5

Take a look at the warranties. Triangle Tube was recommended by a bunch of installers to me 4 years ago but never mentioned the warranty. When I looked it up, it had a 1 year parts warranty.

I have a Navien NCB-240 which has served me well for 4 years except now I'm getting some error codes which may mean the fan needs to be replaced and some new creaking noises as of yesterday. Just posted a question about it. Luckily I have a little more than a year left on the parts warranty. It doesn't include labor but I don't think any warranties do beyond 1 year.

I did want to get a boiler with a longer warranty but they came in at twice the cost. Can I say that? It's not pricing.

So I settled on the Navien NCB because it was recommended by some contractors from my first round of estimates and had a decent warranty. Then I had to find and decide on someone to install it. Most contractors stick with the brand or two that they know. What I did was call the distributor and asked which contractors installed the most Naviens in the area. They luckily gave me some names. I called them, met with them, and got references. I did call the references and based on that decided who to use.

One other thing if you use a Navien, although other boilers may be this way as well. The domestic hot water and the space heating hot water heat exchangers share one same wall. This means if the space heating is going and then you open a sink faucet the 180 F heat will conduct to the hot water side of the heat exchanger. Very hot water will come out of the faucet for a few minutes, unless a mixing valve is installed. The Navien installation manual is unclear if a mixing valve should be installed, but unless there is now one internal to the newer units you should make sure to get a mixing valve installed with the boiler.

nicholas bonham-carter

I would find someone knowledgeable in the find a contractor portion of this site, and make the steam, and hot water system work properly. He could also stage the changes to your system to make it fit into your budget, (sometimes).
If a second boiler would be needed, (not likely), then the pro should make the choice based on his experience, and based on local availability of parts,
The installer is key: good boiler+untrained installer=bad system.—NBC

Zman

I don't have an opinion on the Navien. They seem to be a popular budget choice. Keep in mind that the labor and supporting piping/components will be far more expensive than the boiler. If I had a simple, durable, boiler like the New Yorker, I would not add another boiler of any brand to the mix.

I would suggest getting a second opinion on your existing setup. It is pretty unusual to see a steam boiler that is sized so closely that it won't support a baseboard load. Are your steam pipes insulated? How is the boiler controlled?

Do you have pictures?