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Heat Loss ???

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Lee_3
Lee_3 Member Posts: 17
I am a home owner that has been reading the site for a couple years. We have a 35 year old gas boiler and fin tube base boards and plan to have a professional replace the boiler this winter with one more properly sized, better piped and controlled and most likely with constant circulation before winter. Our goals are increased comfort and reduced fuel costs through good system design and installation we won't be looking for the lowest bidder.

We looked into boiler replacement a couple years ago and got a heat loss of 45,000 BTUs from 2 heating pros. This value was loss based not radiation size. Our current boiler is about 100K btus and seems sized to the radiation.

My wife wants a gas fireplace insert in the living room that would most likley burn from 4PM to 11PM most nights during the heating season. The unit we are looking at is called a "wall furnace". Sealed combustion, uses outside air has fans to heat the living space and puts out about 25,000 btus. End of season is a good time for us to buy one and get it professionally installed. The house has about 800 sq feet on each of 2 levels with a full basement under it.

What effect will the wall furnace have on boiler size when we go to replace it? I had hoped to get an indirect water heater too but suspect with the fireplace we would be best off with a smaller boiler to reduce short cycles. How does an outdoor reset control and constant circulation play into this configuration?

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  • Al Letellier
    Al Letellier Member Posts: 781
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    heat loss

    I would not factor in the "wall furnace" in your calculations. You may not be the owner of that house forever. Install your new boiler and size it to heat loss if using an indirect. If not, you will need to add size for donmestic hot water. Use a reset control for peak operating efficiency and overall system performance. I would suggest putting the living room on it's own zone.If the fireplace overheats the room, the stat will shut off only that room and not effect heat anywhere else in the house.

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