general suggestions for indirect water

Hanna61

Hi

Am planning on adding indirect water to my Buderus system. Any suggestions or advice for this new set up?

There are so many brands, etc. Still need to do some reading, but what happens during the summer season? Thanks!

mattmia2

Depends on a lot of things. the size of the boiler needed for heating, if the boiler is conventional or condensing, what your hot water demand is, what your lowest incoming water temp is. You might want to size it to run infrequently in the summer. Your water chemistry to some extent determines if stainless is a good idea, too high chlorides in the water can destroy stainless and other options become more viable. There are a lot of factors and even given the same factors there is more than one right solution that will give adequate hot water and life.

Jersey2

Bradford White is a good brand. From my experience, in summer if no hot water is used the boiler will go on one or two times a day to heat the water. My boiler will go as low as 64 degrees before the water heater calls. When you shower or use hot water, the boiler will turn on to reheat the hot water that was used. I have a gas fired boiler with indirect and in the summer my bill ranges between $16 to $20 a month. But I have a small family and I take quick showers, do laundry in cold water and rinse/wash my hands in cold water. A larger family with kids will of course have a higher bill for hot water.

HVACNUT

What model Buderus? They offer indirects too. Make sure the boiler can provide what the water heater needs to meet its ratings. Are the existing boiler manifolds large enough to deliver what's needed?

Hanna61

It's a Lugano G115 boiler.

I have 3 zones and room for a forth. It's a big, old house, but only two of us now with guests coming and going. Last water meter read was 600 cf. (this is how they say they charge) for 3 months. We rarely go over the minimum charge except when we filled small pool.

I'm in New England with very cold water temps coming in.

By chlorides - you mean sodium chloride? We do have sodium and they even warn folks about that. Says due to road salt.

Alan (California Radiant) Forbes

I’ve been installing Viessmann indirects for 40 years now and have had no failures (knock on wood). They are all still in use. 

https://www.viessmann-us.com/en/products/dhw.html

Intplm.

@Alan (California Radiant) Forbes I like the Vitocell from Viessmann too. Installed quite a few and have been very happy.

Hanna61

Now my heating and plumbing guy just brought up a heat pump water heater instead of adding an indirect. Says much easier as no plumbing work, but more importantly would save more dollars.

Any comments? Thanks everyone!

Intplm.

Putting one in tomorrow. Usually have little to no problems with them. They are their own entity, not relying on a boiler for heat.
I'm in New England too. If you have a hybrid installed in a warm room it can, when in hybrid mode, take heat from its surroundings and use that heat as a supplement to the electric. A pretty clever design.
As to how much it would save you? Can't really say.
They are better than a conventional electric water heater as far as $$$ but it depends on how it's used.

hot_rod

Some important criteria involved with HPWH regarding their location. They need access to some air to transfer the heat. Download the manual of the model you are looking at for details.

This webinar explains some of the finer details.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfaqOriPP0I&list=PLuuV0ELkYb5VE0I4evUZ30b5U78CRlRdg&index=2

www.dsireusa.org will show rebates available in your area for HPWH.