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Our house was built in 2004 and has a Direct Tankless/Coil Oil Boiler that supplies both Domestic Hot Water (DHW) as well as runs the hydronic baseboard heating system.
We've seen the typical issues with this type of setup (low DHW pressure, temp control issues). The low pressure is the bigger issue for us and we are looking at alternative setups.
I spoke with the plumber who did our routine boiler maintenance and he recommended going to an indirect heating system for our DHW which would mean installing a water tank and another heating zone on our hydronic system.
I'm under the impression that indirect heating systems are more fuel efficient so that is a definite advantage for us. However, what is less clear is if we'll have better DHW pressure after the conversion.
Any predictions about the pressure on the new system? You would expect that it should be better considering it is the cold water pressure that would be pushing the hot water out of the tank (and our cold water pressure is definitely better than our hot water pressure with our current system).
Does the system have a zoning panel?
If not, it probably needs one.
If it does, are the setting correct? Are all the valves working properly?
When there is a demand for DHW the panel is suppose to redirect the energy to that function until the demand is met. Then return to it's normal cycle program for the hydronic heating.
Does the system have a zoning panel?
If not, it probably needs one.
If it does, are the setting correct? Are all the valves working properly?
When there is a demand for DHW the panel is suppose to redirect the energy to that function until the demand is met. Then return to it's normal cycle program for the hydronic heating.
That is how the new (proposed) system will work...the water in the tank will be controlled by a zone on the hydronic heating system.
Right now the water is heated by a tankless coil, located in the boiler itself. When there is a demand for hot water, the boiler kicks on to heat the water as it passes through the coil.
Has the tankless coil been cleaned lately? What about the mixing valve? The scale buildup is what will affect the water flow/pressure. If you have good water flow/pressure for cold water, there's a restriction somewhere. It shouldn't be any more complicated than that.
Avoid the BoilerMate for the indirect tank. A lot of leakers with that brand.
Has the tankless coil been cleaned lately? What about the mixing valve? The scale buildup is what will affect the water flow/pressure. If you have good water flow/pressure for cold water, there's a restriction somewhere. It shouldn't be any more complicated than that.
Avoid the BoilerMate for the indirect tank. A lot of leakers with that brand.
Nope, coil hasn't been cleaned, I was under the impression they don't bother to do that much anymore because of the labor involved, the chemicals, etc.
I'm in the position to either pay to have the coil cleaned every couple of years, or upgrade the system and bypass the coil. I'm guessing between the energy savings of an indirect sytem and the saving from not having to clean the coil every couple of years...I'm better off with the upgrade.
As far as descaling the coil, we have a tankless hot water heater and it is a very simple process. You hook up some hoses and a small pump to the water heater, create a loop with a bucket of descaler and let it run all night. IN the morning, run clean water through for an hour to rinse it out and you are done. It is very easy to do. If you ahve never done it, you may need to do it several nights in a row. I suspect that if there is too much build up you may need to replace the coil. Depening on your water you may need to descale twice a year, once a year or every two years. I suppose that range could run from every day to never with extreme water conditions.
As far as descaling the coil, we have a tankless hot water heater and it is a very simple process. You hook up some hoses and a small pump to the water heater, create a loop with a bucket of descaler and let it run all night. IN the morning, run clean water through for an hour to rinse it out and you are done. It is very easy to do. If you ahve never done it, you may need to do it several nights in a row. I suspect that if there is too much build up you may need to replace the coil. Depening on your water you may need to descale twice a year, once a year or every two years. I suppose that range could run from every day to never with extreme water conditions.
I do understand that coil cleaning is possible....I'm just wondering if it is worth doing vs. going to an indirect system that will is more efficient, cheaper to maintain (no repeated coil cleaning) and overall water pressure will be better/more consistent.
Other issues with coil cleaning (maybe you can weigh in on them):
1. I was under the impression the descaler was muriatic acid....that is why alot of plumbers do not offer this service anymore....messing with dangerous chemicals and such.
2. Not all coils have the fittings necessary to hook up a pump loop to them to descale it. You would need to do that first.
3. Even if you cleaned the coil, you still have a mixing valve between the coil and the house's hot water plumbing that may be blocked/scaled up. cleaning the coil isn't going to fix that....this leads to MORE plumbing work to clean/replace blocked valves.
4. The boiler would have to be shut off for this cleaning process, and for a significant amount of time....if you have really bad water, you might be talking about boiler shut downs every couple of months., plus the work of doing the descaling/rinsing etc., etc. This adds up to a significant amount of maintenance time.
thoughts?
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