hot water heater

sharon_2

I need some advice on replacing my water heater. The current one runs on an oil burner. I replaced the steam boiler 3yrs ago w/ one that has a coil. Should I use the coil w/ a booster or go for an indirect unit? Or just stick w/ what I have & just replace the rusting (but so far reliable)old tank. I've looked at numerous sites but there doesn't seem to be a consensus regarding the efficiency of these units. There are just 2 of us in the house, but we take long showers. Please give the answer in laymen's terms as I not familiar w/ all the technical aspects.

Ken_40

You should...

Think along these lines:

Free standing oil-fired water heaters are very pricey and no great shakes efficiency-wise. Gas (either NG or LP) with the new flame arresting burners, are costly too and not terribly efficient either.

The oil fired steam boiler is probably in the 82-84% efficiency range, minimally 10-20% better than any but the most expensive oil-fired (or gas fired) water heaters.

By using a timer, you can have the boiler's tankless coil supply tons of hot water energy into an indirect storage tank of adequate size two times a day during the non-heating season. If you adjusted the timing of an "on" cycle to be 15-minutes before either of you might jump ito the shower/bath, say 6:45 a.m. - and have the indirect water heater turn back off, the minute you typically are done with morning baths/showers, the residual heat would provide adequate hot water for dishes, laundry and an occassional hand washing for much of an entire day. In the evening, the second timed firing could produce all the hot water needed fora shower and bath etc., once again. By firing the boiler twice (or three or whatever) times a day, you assure no "keep up with an arbitrary aquastat 'call' will be non-existent.

The storage tank I like is the Weil McLain "Plus" series stainless, lifetime warranty indirect. The timer I love is the fully programmable, available at Home Depot for ~30-bucks fully programmable Intertec device found in the timers section of their electrical controls aisle.

There are many ways to skin this cat, but we used this method more than a few times with stunning energy savings and all the hot water anyone could need. The fact that the boiler coil can probably produce 3GPM of 115F water without storage, bodes well for a smaller indirect tank than may be typically assumed to be adequate. You may also want to be certain the insulation in the boiler jacket and minimal piping between the coil and indirect are insulated well.

No one likes a hot boiler area when the A/C is cranking in another areain the dead of summer. Why heat the boiler area air and surroundings when we simply want to heat the water to bathe?

More questions? Fire away.

Paul Fredricks_3

In My Mind...

If there are only 2 of you the coil should work fine. The coil should, as long as it's clean, provide endless hot water. What you won't be able to do istake 2 showers and the dishwasher at the same time. An indirect is the best as far as hot water production goes, but the coil should deliver hot water sufficiently for your needs.