Best non Mod/con baseboard boiler recommendations

Flounder

Greetings, I am in Northern California where baseboard heating is almost nonexistent. I am beginning the process of remodeling my 1560 s.f. single story house. What I am looking for is advice on the most dependable propane boiler manufacturer who also would have a small size unit to fit my 26000 btu heat loss calc. It seems to me that mod/con boilers have shorter life spans, need more maintenance and are more problematic. With the higher cost of mod/con units and more maintenance costs I'm not sure if the mod/co would pay for itself in my lifetime. I'm all about dependability first. Thanks for any input.

EBEBRATT-Ed

There are many good boilers. The installer is in many ways more important than the boiler.

I am partial to Peerless boilers

Check "find a contractor on this site" @Alan (California Radiant) Forbes may be in your area

Flounder

Thanks, I am in a small rural town 3 hours north of S.F. so I plan on this being a D.I.Y. installation. I'm a builder with pretty good plumbing skills. Most people here have wood stoves and forced air so plumbers are not familiar with hydronic baseboard systems. I will check out Peerless boilers, the hard part is finding a small unit.

delta T

I have had really good luck with the Lochinvar CBN line, in your case it would be a CBN045. Good price, two stage gas valve, mid efficiency non-condensing, outdoor reset control out of the box. Really depends on how well Lochinvar is represented near you though for parts availability.

The control can keep it on low fire most of the time, and it should kick out about 18,500 btu/hr on low, and up to about 37,000 on high (for the 45,000 btu model). In your case, it will run on low most of the time.

https://www.lochinvar.com/_linefiles/RSB-07.pdf

Flounder

Thanks Delta t, good info. How do you like their customer service?

delta T

Never have had a problem with Lochinvar tech support. Responsive, knowledgeable, and easy to work with.

Flounder

The only thing that concerns me on this Lochinvar is the copper fin tube heat exchanger. What are your thoughts about this design and it's durability.

hot_rod

Properly installed, pumped, and serviced a copper tube boiler should last 20 years or more. I'd venture to guess it would outlast many of the high efficiency mod cons. They certainly are easy to maintain and service.

I'll bet there is more baseboard heating in that No Cal area than you realize. Ask Alan he sees a lot in the bay area.

Flounder

thanks Hotrod

Canucker

hot_rod said:

Properly installed, pumped, and serviced a copper tube boiler should last 20 years or more. I'd venture to guess it would outlast many of the high efficiency mod cons. They certainly are easy to maintain and service.

I'll bet there is more baseboard heating in that No Cal area than you realize. Ask Alan he sees a lot in the bay area.

Can confirm. There's one in my basement that was installed in 1998. Still going strong, serviced every year

Alan (California Radiant) Forbes

Laars makes a good copper, finned tube boiler called the Mini-Therm. There are many installations around here and they are real work horses.

If you have a little more to spend on your heat emitters, consider wall-mounted panel radiators. To me, they are more attractive and don't get banged up so much by the vacuum cleaner because they sit higher off the floor. Buderus and Runtal come to mind.

Flounder

Thanks Canucker, good to know.
Thanks Alan, I will look at those radiators.