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Boiler for Seasonal Home

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bud_h
bud_h Member Posts: 8
in Radiant Heating
I am looking at boiler options for a seasonal residence. I am in the midst of a remodel and am installing one zone of cast iron baseboard, one zone of fin tube and a 40 gallon boilermate indirect.

The house is primarily a summer residence and it gets winterized with no heat in the winter. The system will have glycol, so I am not worried about that, but if I wanted to go with a high efficiency boiler (have a lochinvar Knight at home and love it), what would the winterization of the boiler look like ? Just a matter of emptying the condensate trap and maybe sucking it dry with a shop vac ?

Would a Knight not like being turned on in the middle of the winter to heat the home for a few days then turned back off ?

Comments

  • STEVEusaPA
    STEVEusaPA Member Posts: 6,506
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    If it’s winterized why a boiler at all? Why not a mini split?
    steve
  • HVACNUT
    HVACNUT Member Posts: 5,835
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    Of your happy with the Lochinvar then go with it if the contractor is knowledgable with the brand. Make sure a heat loss calculation is done.
    You can blow out the trap or pour a little propylene glycol in, as well as all the traps.
    bud_h
  • bud_h
    bud_h Member Posts: 8
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    Steve- you’re not the first one to suggest the mini split, but I like baseboard and I have natural gas, and I would like the indirect water heater. The cottage is relatively small and cut up, so mini split isn’t really ideal.

    On the the lochinvar, the one I have at home is the water tube version. If I went with the fire tube version for the seasonal use, would that have any impact on the ability to winterize it ?

    Draining the condensate trap is easy enough.
  • Jamie Hall
    Jamie Hall Member Posts: 23,286
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    I'd winterize the system -- get the glycol concentration correct for the lowest temperature you're ever likely to see. The reason I prefer this approach is that then if you want to use the place and it's cold out, you can fire up the system and warm yourself up. If it's drained, don't even think about it -- when you try to refill to start if up, something is going to freeze and that can ruin your whole day.
    Br. Jamie, osb
    Building superintendent/caretaker, 7200 sq. ft. historic house museum with dependencies in New England
    bud_h
  • bud_h
    bud_h Member Posts: 8
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    Definitely planning on glycol. Just worried about getting all the condensate out of the fire tube heat exchanger. Is it correct to assume that if I address whatever water is in the trap that there isn’t anywhere else condensate is going to collect in the boiler ?
  • rick in Alaska
    rick in Alaska Member Posts: 1,457
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    That is correct. On the Lochinvar fire tube, the condensate goes directly down and into the trap. Drain the trap, and you are good to go.
    Rick
  • Solid_Fuel_Man
    Solid_Fuel_Man Member Posts: 2,646
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    I'd seriously consider a Rinnai wall furnace over a boiler in a seasonal camp. Small, quiet, and zero issues.

    It takes a lot for me to say that, because I'm a wet head through and through. But I hate glycol.
    Serving Northern Maine HVAC & Controls. I burn wood, it smells good!
    rick in Alaska
  • EvenCmft
    EvenCmft Member Posts: 5
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    The knight is a nice boiler. The knight has the ability to start a pump at an adjustable temperature. The knight will also fire at a lower adjustable temperature if the temperature continues to fall once the pump has turned on.

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