EK System 2000 with superstor?

Obie458

I'm looking to replace my 43 year old Peerless cast iron fuel oil boiler with something more efficient. I was talking to my local heating company and they are recommending a EK system 2000 but suggest replacing the stock hot water tank with a Superstor tank. The reasoning was that it's a more reliable system. Is there any merit to this? Will the efficiency dramatically change? I know next to nothing about boilers so any info I can get will help educate me. Thanks.

STEVEusaPA

Plenty of merit. The EK will save you money. Does it have to be a Superstore? Could be one of EK's indirects. It also depends on your hot water usage.
Plenty of answers on EK's website. Or just wait for an EK person to pop on and answer some questions.

https://energykinetics.com/

Roger

Thank you for your question, @Obie458 and for your post @STEVEusaPA .

Your heating professional may have insight to local water quality concerns and that may be the basis for the recommendation for a stainless steel indirect water heater. We do also offer thermoplastic tanks with optional lifetime warranty coverage as well.

For reference, indirect water heaters are compatible with System 2000, although they operate at a lower efficiency than the plate heat exchanger design which is optimized for thermal purge. The thermal purge plate heat exchanger design can save 5% to 10% annually over an indirect tank with a coil in typical residential applications.

Please feel free to contact us directly or post here if you have other questions.

Roger

Obie458

Thanks for the replies. I believe water quality is good in my area. I have a well with no hard water problems. My hot water usage is fairly low. 2 person house approximately 1200sq ft living space. I'll have to ask specifically you he recommended the Superstore. My old iron monster is loud, sucks through oil and I feel with its age its how much life is left? What's the longevity of the System 2000 compared to something like my peerless? 

Roger

You're welcome, @Obie458 .
We refer to System 2000 as a 30 year boiler, although we've been in business 42 years and I know many of those early systems are still in service. And our boiler construction is much better today than it was in the late 1970's. You'll also be covered with a residential lifetime limited warranty on the pressure vessel, plus a labor allowance that applies if there were a warranty failure in the first 10 years. In addition to that peace of mind, I think you'll enjoy the upgrade with quiet operation, nearly endless hot water, and lower fuel bills.
Best,
Roger

Hot_water_fan

@Obie458 How many gallons did you use last winter and what's your general location?

Robert O'Brien

Obie458 said:

I'm looking to replace my 43 year old Peerless cast iron fuel oil boiler with something more efficient. I was talking to my local heating company and they are recommending a EK system 2000 but suggest replacing the stock hot water tank with a Superstor tank. The reasoning was that it's a more reliable system. Is there any merit to this? Will the efficiency dramatically change? I know next to nothing about boilers so any info I can get will help educate me. Thanks.

There's a reason it's called System 2000. It is an engineered system. I reused a customers relatively new SuperStor indirect water heater when installing an EK1 many years ago, never again. The DHW output while acceptable was substantially less than the flat plate setup and the DHW efficiency was drastically reduced. Once the indirect and boiler reach equilibrium during the purge cycle, you lose the ability to purge heat from the boiler to the tank.

Obie458

Hot_water_fan, I live in the catskill mountains of NY state. I used 830 gallons of oil from early November - early April . 1,200 sq ft of living space. I tend to keep the house temp fairly low at about 63F and I don't use much hot water. I also have a fireplace insert but it needed replacing so I didn't run it much this past winter.

Robert O'Brien

Obie458 said:

Hot_water_fan, I live in the catskill mountains of NY state. I used 830 gallons of oil from early November - early April . 1,200 sq ft of living space. I tend to keep the house temp fairly low at about 63F and I don't use much hot water. I also have a fireplace insert but it needed replacing so I didn't run it much this past winter.

You might want to consider the EK Ascent, basically an oil version of the gas combi boilers.

Hot_water_fan

@Obie458 a base temp of 60 degrees (since you keep the house at 63) in Albany gives you about 5,000 HDD days. Assuming 80% efficiency and 30 gallons going towards DHW, that gets you a usage of about 43kBtu for a day that averages 0 degrees out, 60k Btu with a 40% oversize, which is 50 btu/sqft. Can you upgrade your home's envelope first? That's a huge heat loss for a house that size.

Ctoilman

You're using too much oil because the home needs better insulation/doors/windows especially in a really cold climate that you're in.  The money spent on these items will give you comfort (eliminate drafts) a replacement boiler can't give.  Replacing the boiler is basically last on the list of things to do.

Roger

I agree that the fuel consumption is high given @Obie458 ’s home, and it’s very possuble that there are significant building shell issues. Upgrading the shell first is a good general rule of thumb, although due to the low idle loss of System 2000, there is virtually no oversizing penalty. That means that you don’t have to decide between a building envelope upgrade before installing the boiler because the boiler will be “right sized” before and after any building envelope improvements. That’s particularly nice, because you can decide what’s best for you, your comfort, and your budget without regard to prioritizing one improvement over the other.

Best,
Roger

Obie458

The house was built in 1978 and very little was  upgraded by the original owner. This spring I've begun making major improvements to help fix the heat loss situation. All the windows have been replaced, all doors replaced new garage doors. (Garage is under living space) and I'm about to add more insulation to the attic. I also replaced an old woodstove insert that had issues with a modern pacific energy model. That alone should dramatically improve my old consumption but at 40+ years old I just think its time to replace the old boiler too. 

Roger

That’s fantastic to hear all your doing to upgrade your home, @Obie458 - you should expect great results all around!