Deciding which Boiler to Purchase as a replacement (Burnham, Pure Pro, EK1)

jfpolayes · September 3

I currently have a Burnham, original with the house (1986 or so). 140,000 BTU. 3 heating zones and 1 other zone feeds the indirect stone lined water heater (10 years old). I have 4 circulator pumps. The boiler requires some repairs with the fill valve, and relief valve, and some other components (per the company that services it). So exploring just installing a more efficient boiler since at some point, it will go. Live in CT, 2300 sq ft home. Also have Wood Stove and Heat Pump system (AC in Summer / Heat in Winter). Typically use less than 700 gallons a year. Basement is unfinished but would like to at some point and maybe create a new zone for the future. I have a chimney/flue liner already installed.

Options that have been presented to me, and each company says good things about theirs and bad things about the others:

Pure Pro Trip 5 with Caleffi valves and water feeder

Energy Kinetics System 2000 EK1 with Caleffi valves and water feeder

Burnham EMP140 with Taco valves and 1 circulator pump

Feedback from the Burnham quote "The steel heat exchangers on the EK1 can melt at the end of life, causing flames to shoot out if a technician doesn’t discover the cracked heat exchanger at the end of life. They also have an external heat exchanger for domestic hot water that usually fails multiple times over the life of the boiler and will need to be replaced more than once. I would stick with a reputable brand that uses a cast iron heat exchanger."

My goal is efficiency, the quietness of the boiler isn't a big deal for me right now, and something that will last forever. The current one is running and it's probably the components around her that need work, but it all adds up.

Another related question: 4 circulator pumps or 1 circulator pump with 4 zone valves? All of my research says "it just is a preference"

Appreciate any perspective. Cast-Iron or Steel? Circulators or Zone Valves? A boiler that "uses" a lot of water or very little. Thank you.

HydronicMike · September 3

For starters, you should do a heat loss because it seems oversized.
Whoever gave you the Burnham quote you should immediately forget about. No one ever in the industry has ever seen, or ever even heard of, a heat exchanger 'melting'.
I would do an EK1, hands down, zone valves. If you hear any nonsense about 1 circ down and the whole circ down, keep a spare handy. But circulators rarely break.

Jamie Hall · September 3

I'll agree with @HydronicMike up there, on all counts.

I would add, though, that there is nothing in particular wrong with the Burnham boiler itself (although I would prefer the EK) — but I'll double Mike's comment on the person who quoted it: they are not someone I'd want to work with. Never heard of a steel heat exchanger melting, EK or otherwise. You might get there if you are burning oxy-acetylene…

Robertw · September 3

Thank you for your post , and for everyone's kind words about Energy Kinetics.

Much of the System 2000 Frontier efficiency comes from low mass (contrast with heavy cast iron sections that finish hot when the burner shuts off, letting heat energy drift up and out the chimney) and thermal purge (this keeps the circulator on and recovers the heat left in the boiler and the piping so the boiler finishes cold - virtually no off cycle loss). The key to make hot water replenishment work is the thermal purge to the hot water tank - this is achieved with a plate heat exchanger that heats the tank from the top down. At the end of the hot water call to heat the tank, there is a reservoir of unheated water at the bottom of the tank that is a near perfect balance for the heat remaining in the boiler. The boiler purges that heat to the tank and the boiler finishes cold and the tank finishes hot.

Boilers with indirect tanks with coils finish hot 3 to 5+ times a day in a typical active household. A high mass boiler may take up to 10 minutes to heat up, which means there is up to 10 minutes of energy left wasted in the boiler when the burner shuts off - especially in the summer, spring, and fall when no more heat will be needed for some time.

The combination of low mass and thermal purge means that there is virtually no oversizing penalty, and it will run at near peak efficiency from very small to full steady state loads.

A recent broad study of heat and hot water boilers from NORA showed that the average savings when upgrading to our low mass thermal purge design was 25% vs older boilers. That's average savings, not an outlier. So you'll get the efficiency your looking for with a Frontier.

Homeowners also love the near endless hot water and whisper quiet operation, which is very different than all other oil boilers. I hope you will consider Energy Kinetics - please PM me or call to talk with your territory manager to help answer questions you may have. Our phone is 908 735-2066.

Also , for as long as i have been here there has never been a melted heat exchanger that i am aware of. Life expectancy of any product relies on proper installation practices and maintenance.

Hope this helps.

EBEBRATT-Ed · September 3

@jfpolayes

If it was mine I would keep running it. The parts you said need replacing are parts that have to be replaced on any boiler every 15 years or so.

Will there be savings with a new boiler yes, some but it will never offset the cost of the new boiler installed? No

If i had a choice on a new boiler it would be EK

I would only consider replacing if I was convinced that I was staying in the house forever.

I probably have a different opinion because I worked in HVAC for 46 years and could fix/install a boiler. Peace of mind is worth something so its your choice.

Toss the company that bad mouthed the EK those are scare tactics.

The other thing is you have wood and heat pumps so you could survive a week without the boiler in an emergency.

Your choice.

Steamhead · September 3

@jfpolayes , what model Burnham do you have now? What burner is on it? Did anyone do a heat-loss calculation on the house? If so, what was the result?

pecmsg · September 3

proper heat loss is 1st.
after they the installing contractor.

HVACNUT · September 3

That Burnham rep was really slinging the bs. I hope you had your waders on. I can think only of Repco when someone mentions boilers that burned through. And they're long gone.

As far as the plate heat exchanger for the water heater, the domestic side can be back flushed by a toddler its so easy. The boiler side is already treated with 8-Way boiler treatment that was supplied with the boiler. Water quality is important no matter the system.

Robert O'Brien · September 3

You can calculate heat loss from fuel consumption

Step 1. Gather a year’s worth of fuel usage. Convert it to BTUs and multiply by the AFUE of the heating appliance.

Oil: 139,000 BTU/gal
Natural gas: 100,000 BTU/therm (or 102,000 BTU/CCF)
Propane: 91,000 BTU/gal

Step 2. Divide by the heating degree days (HDD) for the same period. This gives BTUs per HDD. Divide by 24 to get BTUs per HDD-hour.

Step 3. Multiply by the difference between 70°F and your design temperature. That gives the home’s design heat loss.

Example:

Home uses 1000 therms/year in an 80% AFUE boiler
Climate: 6000 HDD

1,000(Therms) × 100,000(Btu per therm) = 100,000,000 BTUs
100,000,000 × 0.80(AFUE) = 80,000,000 BTUs delivered
80,000,000 ÷ 6000 HDD = 13,333 BTU/HDD
13,333 ÷ 24 = 555 BTU/HDD-hr.
555 × 70°F = 38,888 BTU/hr design heat loss

No tape measures. No guesswork about R-values or infiltration. Just actual data from the actual house.

Caveats:

If the homeowner supplements with mini-splits, wood, or pellets, the number will be artificially low.
If they kept the thermostat abnormally low because of fuel costs, same issue—the calculation will understate the true load.

Always sanity-check the result. Around here, the average heat loss is about 20 BTU/sq ft. If you’re way above or below that, dig deeper. And if all else fails, yes—you can still break out the tape measure.

Deciding which Boiler to Purchase as a replacement (Burnham, Pure Pro, EK1)

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