How close can indirect be to boiler?

Tim Gardner

installing a new boiler, they pointed to the other side of the basement next to the water supply and said that the new indirect would go over there, about 15 feet from the boiler.

The new boilers are much smaller than my current Delco, so I would like to just put the indirect right beside it and not take up any more space. But is there a reason there has to be a lot of separation between the boiler and an indirect other than potentially making the plumbing easier?

I probably won't be doing this right away, but I am rearranging my basement and wanted to plan for the indirect now if I need to make space for it.

Thanks,
Tim

Tim Gardner

When I asked my oil company about

installing a new boiler, they pointed to the other side of the basement next to the water supply and said that the new indirect would go over there, about 8 feet from the boiler.

The new boilers are much smaller than my current Delco with coil, so I would like to just put the indirect right beside the new boiler and not take up any more total space. But is there a reason they should not be side by side?

I probably won't be doing this right away, but I am rearranging my basement and wanted to plan for the indirect now if I need to make space for it.

Thanks,
Tim

Al Letellier

indirect spacing

there is no other reason for separation between the two than ease of maintenance. Most boilers today require little clearance to combustibles, so you can virtually put them side by side. Just make sure there is enough room to service all the heating system components. There are even several boilers out there where the boiler sits on top of the indirect, so that is a huge space saver (Buderus and Viessmann to name a couple)

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J.C.A._3

Leave room to service!

They are thinking ahead. If they have to wrestle to get to service points on the boiler, it ends up costing you more in labor. I don't think it needs to be quite that far away, but it may make sense in their estimation. As long as it's not in the way , tell them where you'd like it to go. Chris

kevin coppinger_4

One advantage to indirects....

is that you can put them nearly anywhere...maybe closer to where the bathroom(s) are or in a place where you have a lot of hot water need thereby shortening up the time to wait for hot water.One thing I like to do in new houses is place the indirect as close to the water distibution manifold so the customer has nearly instant hot water w/o using a recirculation pump. Service to both boiler and water heater is important.kpc

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heatboy

The beauty of an indirect..............

is it can be installed virtually anywhere in the structure. It can be as little as 1' foot away or more than 100' away from the boiler. The only thing that changes is the pipe and pump size. The closer you are to your hot water faucets, the less water you'll waste waiting for hot water. Consider an insulated re-circulation line with a pump for your domestic hot water.

hb

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Tim Gardner

Thanks. I hadn't realized that these could be stacked.

hr

There will be a label

on the boiler listing side clearences. I had to shoe horn this boiler and indirect into a very tight space. I used NFPA 54 (1999 version) 6.3 and 6.2.3 (b) table, to reduce the side clearence requirement)using a metal shield and spacers according to their spec.

Although I'm not sure what the indirect jacket is considered combustiable or not. The local AHJ and inspector approved.

Guess what boiler cracked a section several weeks ago?

hot rod







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Tim Gardner

Wow, talk about proof of concept! That is tight! I think I'd excavate my basement a bit bigger before I'd try to put it that close! Thanks for the picture.