BEST BOILER FOR NEW CONSTRUCTION

OldDudesHideout

New Construction 40 x 64' Building, 40 x 40 is Shop, 36 x 24' is attached Apartment. 5" Concrete Slab with 5/8 Pex installed for radiant hot water [antifreeze] heat. 2x6 walls 12' high 24" centers, 6/12 Pitch Steel Roof, Steel Ceiling. No windows, One 32" Entrance Door w 1/2 light Glass, one 9x8' & one 12x10' Overhead Commercial Insulated Doors. Rockwool Brand Insulation [Mineral Wool], R23 Walls, R60 Ceiling. Inside walls will be drywall.

Pex from floor is connected to 2 Watts Brand Stainless Manifolds, One 5 loop for shop, [five 300ft loops 12" apart], one 3 loop for apartment, [ three 250 loops 12" apart]. Set up for one zone for shop, one zone for apt.

Would like to know Best Boiler & size to use with LP gas. Thanks in advance!

Northern Minnesota 56401

hot_rod

So many good boilers on the market. A mod con would be my choice for a radiant slab application.

I have used a number of the Lochinvar products, with 0 problems. The Knight series is a great unit, floor or wall mount. Built in Tennessee.

Ideally you would run a heat load calc to size everything. A wild guess around 60,000 BTU/hr?

I'd look at the Knight 85,000 BTU/ hr.

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GroundUp

If you're planning to install it yourself, find something that local suppliers carry and local contractors are familiar with. First Supply in Brainerd carries NTI and IBC if I'm not mistaken. Goodin carries Navien and Lochinvar. I'm about 45 minutes from you there and I install either Lochinvar or Burnham (though my source is out of Rogers). Best in the business is a Lochinvar Knight, in my opinion, though the price is considerably higher than most. The Lochinvar Noble and Burnham Alta are a very nice budget friendly option and what I typically install but I have a number of Knights around Gull and the Crosslake area.

EdTheHeaterMan

If you are looking at a professional installation for your new construction, I would go with the contractor that has the best reputation for Hydronic Heat in your region.  The contractor that does the best work and understands how the stuff operates, will be able to take the boiler that they prefer (even if it is not a premium brand) and have you in great shape, while a less that par contractor will be able to screw up the best boilers on the market. 

The installer is more important than the brand of boiler, In my opinion.