Ultra vs Cast Iron

Floyd_5

but for you I'll put it up again... my boy did this job.... he is doing very well and learning very quickly!!!!

As for the Ulra... I am pleased so far...today was the first continually cold day we have had so far...stayed in the mid thirty's all day....the ultra has chugged along at a low fire all day...right now it's run 140 supply and 132 return... the house has held at a steady 69 all day and just now I saw it dropped back to 68...I may have to increase the space heating setpoint just a bit.....I'll see what it does till morning...

I too, have a few more jobs to put Ultra's in one is a Firehouse, 10,500 sf, all radiant in the concrete..will pair two....will be able to modulate between 30-300 kbtu, should be pretty neat... I am also to go look at two more farrowing operations to install boilers also, that are ownwd by the same people...till I'm done with them I should be able to save them well over 100 bucks a day, that's over 36k+ per year, I can make some great money on an easy repipe and change out and they will still get their money back in months!!!

Floyd_5

Got numbers....

After just four days of having metered the gas usage of two identical loads, the results are astonishing......
One system has two cast iron boilers, that are well oversized, and run @ low temp. all the time.....(120)

The other system was that way and a boiler cracked, so I replaced it with an Ultra 155.....it never cycles and just modulates to the load and is keeping up wonderfully.

Installed gas meters on each system 4 days ago and when I checked them last night I expected a savings.....but not what I saw....

The Ultra used less than half the gas of the Cast....
I am waiting for numbers on their fuel costs but I'm sure that the pay back here will be less than 1 year!!!!!
Especially since these are running on propane.

The Cast Iron system used 9,800 cubic ft of gas, and...
the Ulra used 4,400 cubic feet.

I will post more info as I figure more out here.

bigugh_4

A pile of dirt ?

to move a pile of dirt you cna use two wheel barrows 1/2 full and walk twice as far as one wheelbarrow and fill it up. Most likely the piping and control scheme for the two boilers is incorrect, as it shows, in the fuel used. Then there is the size of the wheelbarrows. the Ultra may be much more efficient! and has only one flue to waste heat. Apples compared to apples is the name here. Comparasions between styles of boilers is not fair till all the points of consideration are studied. i.e. the cast iron boilers may well outlast the Ultra two to one! jmho!

LEAD PIPE

savings

Floyd, do you have an ultra at your house? I know that my Gas bills are tracked monthly, I can see what I used last sept vs this sept. I cant wait to compare gas uses new system(ultra) vs old system by month. I know that weather will effect this but over a few months I should get a good indication. Have you looked at your monthy bills and compared them to last year?
I have a friend with a digital camera coming over in a couple of weeks so I will be able to post pictures of my system.

Floyd_5

Yes

I did install one in my home... am aiting for my gad bill also..unfortunately the gas co. decided to estimate my bill last month and I am waiting to get my next one here in a couple of days. I do know that I did save some gas over the summer with the Ultra heating my water through an indirect as opposed to the regular gas fired waater heater. Also I can run my water temp. lower and still have plenty of hot water...
I will post numbers for my house once I get them...
The numbers that I got above are a bit screwed up if you want to say that it is fair to compare oversized cast iron boilers that are running at temps. they weren't designed for....however my point also is that there are thousands of systems out there that are designed that way and the savings that can be realized by making the "system" efficient is far greater than many imagine.....what really gets my goat is that people actually PAY to have persons with a degree design these wasteful, grossly oversized, systems that eat boilers up!!!!!!!
I expected to see a great deal of savings and expected that I could show that the redesign of the system and the boiler would pay for it's self in around 2 years..... with the numbers that I'm getting this system will pay for it's self in LESS than 1 year!!!!
I agree that what would be really cool, would be to install say a GV boiler and compare the results with both systems redesigned and see whether, and how much of a difference the modulating boiler makes......
Now if I can just figure out how to heat animal confinment room with a combination of radiant heating and hot air to make up for the neccesary air exchange, instead of just blowing hot air in and right out of the room.......

AHHHHHHH..........so many problems, so litle time.......

tombig

Ultra

Floyd,I can see those Pennsylvania hills in my flatlander mind right now. I've got two Ultra jobs on the books right now and can't wait to install 'em. You were no.1 on the bandwagon and your reports have been nothing short of glowing. W-M should kick you back. A farm application that runs 24/7 is a far cry from residential but in a purely low temp application I can't see this product do nothing but shine.

Right there with you my brother. Is your boy still with you or back to race cars?