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btu question

gobruins
gobruins Member Posts: 1
i have a client who wants to change his ancient oil fired hot water heating boiler to a high efficiency condensing gas boiler. i do not know what the btus of the existing oil burner is and i do not want to take out nozzles and such. from my limited info and OJT  i believe that i am supposed to do a normal heat loss to size the boiler then see if there is enough existing baseboard to run the temp at a low enough temperature to actually make it condense. stop me if i am incorrect so far. if i am correct then here is my question.  the existing radiation is baseboard with one inch copper tubing and the fins are a heavy guage measuring 3 inch by 3 inch. put in before my time.  do not know what brand. how do i find out btus per foot of this stuff?  one pipe monoflow system. client says heats up house good. oil burner is gonna die soon. i appreciate any info.

Comments

  • Steamhead
    Steamhead Member Posts: 16,796
    The baseboard is irrelevant

    do the heat-loss calculation, and size the boiler from that. 



    And be sure you have a proper place to vent that mod-con, considering snow accumulations and clearances from windows, doors etc. .
    All Steamed Up, Inc.
    Towson, MD, USA
    Steam, Vapor & Hot-Water Heating Specialists
    Oil & Gas Burner Service
    Consulting
  • CMadatMe
    CMadatMe Member Posts: 3,086
    Heat Loss

    Steamhead is correct in saying don't worry about the baseboard for properly sizing the boiler. Now finding where your design water temp needs to be is a different story and the board is relevant.



    If the covers are like the attached use this chart. If they are not can you describe them?
    "The bitter taste of a poor installation remains much longer than the sweet taste of the lowest price."
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