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Crown Vs. Peerless

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pitcher1
pitcher1 Member Posts: 1
in Gas Heating
I am in the process of replacing and changing over to gas. I have received a number of proposals and have limited my decision to either a Crown Bimini high efficiencyciency (95.4%)  BWC151 or a peerless purfire high efficiency (95%) PF 110. The total installed prices are very similar and the warranties from the mfg. are 1 full year. They are also offering a indirect tank for hot water - 32 gal Buderus or Megastor MS40.

Can anyone give me advice concerning the overall quality and reliability of these 2 high efficiency gas boiler manufacturers down the road past 5 years. Thanks

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  • CMadatMe
    CMadatMe Member Posts: 3,086
    edited March 2011
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    Reliable

    Both are reliable boilers although I am not a fan of alum nor Giannoni heat exhangers. Like any piece of equipment it will only perform to expectation based on the installation. What has me scratching my head are the boiler choices based on the size.



    BWC is 150,000 the PurFire 110,000 why the big difference in size of boilers? Did your contractor calculate a heat loss? Did he measure the existing radiation to compare it to the heat loss to set a proper heating curve to benefit from the outdoor reset function that is equiped in both boilers? If the anwser was no, I would be considering getting a few more opinions and estimates or give him a chance to provide you with them. This is critical to taking advantage of the efficiencies condensing boilers can provide. Condensing boilers are not 90% plus efficient out of the box.
    "The bitter taste of a poor installation remains much longer than the sweet taste of the lowest price."
  • CMadatMe
    CMadatMe Member Posts: 3,086
    edited March 2011
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    Your e-mail

    David,



    I wanted to respond to your e-mail here so that you would be able to get other pro's view of your situation. You state the following in your e-mail.



    1.  You don't believe they did a heat loss.

    This is needed to properly size the boiler. Ask for one to be done. Your not asking for anything that a true professional does. It's your money your spending and you are the one that has to live in the home and pay utility bills not the contractor.



    2.  Home is 1500 square feet.

    I don't know what part of the country you are in but a reasonably insulated home with updated windows would have a heat loss in the area of 25 to 32 btu's a sqft. In your case somewhere between 37,500 and 48,000 btus if your in a zero degree climate.



    3. You have 131 foot of baseboard in the home.

    Based on known factors. Residential Baseboard btu output average at a minimum is 550's btus' per foot on a 1gpm flow rate to a max of 590 on a 4gpm flow rate using 180 degree water.This water temp is what a typical system runs on. In your case that minimum capable output of that board being fed by 180 degree water would be 72,000 btu's or 77,000 btu's at a maximum.



    This footage is important. A condensing boiler relies on cooler water temperatures to increase it's efficiency. Let's say the heat loss is 48,000. You have 131 feet of board.  I only need the board to give me about 367 btu's a sqft to overcome the heat loss on the coldest day of the year. We now calculate the water temp that we need to achieve this and tell the condensing boiler how to run it's heating curve. The reason we do a room to room heat loss is so we can compare that actual rooms loss to the footage of board in the room to make sure we can do this by room.



    This is why the real pro's quote may be higher. He spends the time you don't see already working on your job. The one he didn't get yet.
    "The bitter taste of a poor installation remains much longer than the sweet taste of the lowest price."
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