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NPE-240 for baseboard heat?

josephny
josephny Member Posts: 270
in THE MAIN WALL

I have a small cottage (about 1000 sq ft) and I'm considering putting in hot water baseboard (with some panel).

Would a Navien NPE-240 (leaving aside the capacity question) be appropriate?

I've seen warnings about not using tankless as boilers.

Thank you!

Comments

  • GGross
    GGross Member Posts: 1,127
    Well it's a tankless water heater so it's not really the best application for the equipment. Personally I wouldn't choose it for myself.
    SuperTech
  • jesmed1
    jesmed1 Member Posts: 575
    edited September 2023
    Why wouldn't you get a boiler, since that's what you need? Here's a discussion of some small gas boilers that might be more suitable for your cottage:

    https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/165166/looking-for-the-smallest-btu-input-condensing-gas-boiler
  • Ironman
    Ironman Member Posts: 7,430
    edited September 2023
    No, it wouldn’t be. It’s a water heater, not a boiler. It’s not designed, controlled or approved for space heating.

    Your house probably needs less than 25k btus to heat it and that’s on the coldest night of the year. Why would you want to install something that’s almost 10 times that size? Even if it could be made functional, it would short cycle itself to death in a short time.

    If you’re bent on doing this on the cheap, then use a gas fired tank water heater.
    Bob Boan
    You can choose to do what you want, but you cannot choose the consequences.
  • dko
    dko Member Posts: 668
    There isn't much of a price difference between the NPE240 and the smallest NHB boiler... not sure why it's even a consideration.
    GGrossSuperTech
  • josephny
    josephny Member Posts: 270
    Thank you all!

    I suspected as much, from my research and reading here and elsewhere.

    The local heating guy is proposing to use this. He is a youngish guy but comes from old school oil and gas floor mounted boilers.

    While the house is really just a small cottage, I am in Sullivan County, NY where it gets mighty cold.

    And, if I'm doing this, I was thinking of getting a combi to eliminate the tankless water heater hanging in the attic.

    A local dealer who I have dealt with before and has been very helpful in doing the work myself is an IBC dealer.

    Does a propane combi from IBC make better sense for my need?

    Thank you!
  • hot_rod
    hot_rod Member Posts: 22,703
    Size your panel rads and  bb to run at 120f supply. The will keep the combi condensing

    A boiler around 110 - 120k would give you around 2 gpm of dhw. Probably plenty for a small cottage

    Thise small combis turn down to around 8k. Much lower than a water heater or  a small cast boiler
    Bob "hot rod" Rohr
    trainer for Caleffi NA
    Living the hydronic dream

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