As far as it goes, anecdotes are just stories. For every horror story I've seen, I've found others that say it's not true. The horror stories are oft-repeated, the WOW stories are fewer and even hard to come across. It mostly goes back to the installer - what he did or didn't do, and who he was. If you have someone dependable, trustworthy, conscientious, and knowledgeable, you'll get a good system that will give you many years of reliable service. If you think you're going to get something less, that's where the problems crop up. I've called for service for my boiler just to scope out the service department of the potential installer. So far, they've all failed to meet my standards. I want someone good, better than I am. I do my homework and more, they just don't seem to.
A three-hour labor charge for draining the system, before replacing the circulator, doesn't cut it. Then there was the charge to refill it. They didn't get the work.
As for your situation, is this a new construction, a retrofit, or a changeover from an existing system?
In doing the project what do you expect for an outcome? Yes, its low or lower TCO (projected), but in what context? for family size - more hot water, for house - more space?
This winter, wouldnt it be nice to get all the warmth and comfort you want at home, but use less natural gas, oil, or propane and save money on your utility bills while doing so? With a condensing boiler you can.
All boilers produce hot water or steam that is distributed throughout your home via radiators, baseboards, or an in-floor radiant system. In this process, boilers produce water vapor containing heat during combustion.
A conventional boiler will exhaust the water vapor and the heat is wasted. A condensing boiler, on the other hand, recovers the heat from the water vapor and puts it back into the boiler. This allows a condensing boiler to use less fuel to produce the same amount of heat. Same comfort, less fuel, lower bills.
For more information, please visit Partedon Group.
Consider the Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency (AFUE) rating of a boiler, which is a measure of its efficiency. A conventional boiler typically has an AFUE of 70-80%, with more efficient versions reaching 85% AFUE. Condensing boilers typically have an AFUE of 90-95%, with some manufacturers even claiming 98% AFUE on certain models. These ratings are readily available when comparing models and are a good shortcut when youre shopping for a new boiler and have efficiency in mind.
However, in order to get that level of efficiency out of your condensing boiler, make sure the boilers outdoor reset controls are installed. These signal the boiler to run slightly cooler in mild temperatures, allowing the water vapor to condense.
Do you want another reason to consider a condensing boiler when its time to upgrade your heating system? How about 1,600 reasons?
Mass Save offers rebates up to $2,400 on the combination of a condensing boiler and on-demand hot water heater (also known as a tankless water heater). Check out our gas heating rebate page for details.
If you want to learn more, please visit our website Condensing Steam Boiler.
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