looking for opinions for what kind of on demand wall boilers for DHW and in-floor heating to buy.

kbsanfor

I will be building a new home this spring and have heard in-floor heat is the best way to heat. I want to heat all water with on boiler and do not know where to start. my home will be 1,100 s/f single story. I live in Michigan so winter is cold. we only have LP in our area so want to be high efficiency. we will be using spray foam with 2X6 walls.

Any help would be great,
Keith

kcopp

Find your self a good heating contractor w/ experience. Install a unit that he ahs installed a lot and knows exactly how to install and service it.
Personally I like the IBC boiler line. I have many installs w/ a good
track record.
As far as the radiant I use the Uponor line but there are other good options.
Make sure the contractor has a good heatloss done on the home. As far as the home goes pay attention to the envelope. Good air sealing and good insulation as well as good windows will go a LONG way to keeping your house comfortable and energy efficient.

nibs

Be very careful with the spray foam, it must be applied slowly enough that you get a complete cure, sealed up uncured foam will outgas some nasty stuff for a long time. Build it up layer by layer. We used rigid foam with excellent results.

Larry Weingarten

Hi, As it's new construction, you might want to look into SIP panels. They basically are solid foam with plywood or OSB skins on both sides. They are strong, and fast to put up, with better energy performance than most stick built structures. Also, you sidestep the spray foam risks. Running wiring and plumbing must be carefully thought out, but like anything, you want someone who has done SIPS before, so they aren't learning on your house.

Yours, Larry

Jamie Hall

Do NOT use just one "boiler" for all your heat. You will need a proper heating boiler for the in-floor radiant (which is an excellent way to heat, by the way), properly sized to the heat load and installed carefully and correctly. You can use an on-demand water heater for the domestic hot water. But they aren't the same thing at all, and the one will not do the job of the other.