HiE Boilers

[John Paul Sanborn]

I'm still pondering getting one, but the ROI has not looked good for my little house. Also we are in a code happy city.

Who has a HiE unit that they are happy with?

 

[mga]

are you talking about high efficiency boilers?

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

are you talking about high efficiency boilers?

Yes

 

[coog]

Seems the Europeans are ahead of us in boiler technology, including wood-fired units.

http://www.viessmann.com/com/en/products/Solid_fuel-fired_boilers.html

I have a gas-fired Viessmann in my Mn house; 3,000 sq/ft home and I picked up the boiler by myself and hung it on the wall.It runs three levels of in-floor, domestic hot water and a furnace.Their new boilers also operate as a generator, so you could conceivably live "off-grid" if you had natural gas.Not sure if they will offer anything similar for the wood units.A previous owner took out all of the radiators in this (Ks) house after they all froze following an ice storm, otherwise I would have some type of Viessmann in my basement.

 

[mga]

i have hot water baseboard heat also, and i replaced my boiler recently. i also work for a heating and air conditioning company.

when i inquired about high efficiency boilers, i was told not to buy one because there are many problems with them at this time. so, i opted for one that is 80%. the HEI boilers are very expensive and, as i said, not very dependable. until they improve on the design, and price, i'd shy away from them.

just my opinion.

 

[coog]

I'm always interested in the lag time between the innovators and the industry.I have been plumbing with PEX since around 1996 (by that time it had been used in Europe for 20 years)I couldn't find one plumber who had used it, but they all warned me not to.The story is the same with: 1)foam insulation,2)high-velocity a/c ,3) hot roof roofing systems,and 4) condensing boilers.Not only are they reliable, they don't need yearly cleaning and maintenance.I love the efficiency label that they are required to put on all appliances...this one was, literally, off the chart at 97% efficiency! I put it in 6 years ago and have done nothing but turn it on.

 

[mga]

I'm always interested in the lag time between the innovators and the industry.I have been plumbing with PEX since around 1996 (by that time it had been used in Europe for 20 years)I couldn't find one plumber who had used it, but they all warned me not to.The story is the same with: 1)foam insulation,2)high-velocity a/c ,3) hot roof roofing systems,and 4) condensing boilers.Not only are they reliable, they don't need yearly cleaning and maintenance.I love the efficiency label that they are required to put on all appliances...this one was, literally, off the chart at 97% efficiency! I put it in 6 years ago and have done nothing but turn it on.

brand name and model?

ha...i agree about using PEX...now, every new house has it installed. but, it wasn't the convenience of PEX that made it attractive, it was the soaring cost of copper.

 

[coog]

brand name and model?

ha...i agree about using PEX...now, every new house has it installed. but, it wasn't the convenience of PEX that made it attractive, it was the soaring cost of copper.

Not so.My partner is a plumber, and when asked how much was saved in labor by using PEX over copper he replied "Tons, and we make sure the homeowner never sees a penny of it!" Not to minimize the cost advantage, though copper is falling like all of the other commodities.

My boiler is a Viessmann vitodens 100.They are not cheap, but I am happy with it.After WW2, the U.S moved away from boilers in favor of furnaces.In Europe, they continued to work with boilers almost exclusively, so they have a huge head start.

edit: That's partner in the business sense, by the way!

 

[November Wolf]

Not so.My partner is a plumber, and when asked how much was saved in labor by using PEX over copper he replied "Tons, and we make sure the homeowner never sees a penny of it!" Not to minimize the cost advantage, though copper is falling like all of the other commodities.

My boiler is a Viessmann vitodens 100.They are not cheap, but I am happy with it.After WW2, the U.S moved away from boilers in favor of furnaces.In Europe, they continued to work with boilers almost exclusively, so they have a huge head start.

edit: That's partner in the business sense, by the way!

I was just talking to my friend about this a few weeks ago. He is a plumber and told me the cost of copper made him switch over to pex. He saves alot of time in labor and can pass the savings on to the customer.

 

[mga]

Not so.My partner is a plumber, and when asked how much was saved in labor by using PEX over copper he replied "Tons, and we make sure the homeowner never sees a penny of it!" Not to minimize the cost advantage, though copper is falling like all of the other commodities.

My boiler is a Viessmann vitodens 100.They are not cheap, but I am happy with it.After WW2, the U.S moved away from boilers in favor of furnaces.In Europe, they continued to work with boilers almost exclusively, so they have a huge head start.

edit: That's partner in the business sense, by the way!

we discussed boilers here a few months back and i had found a web site of a UK based dealer that manufactured a boiler that was also a generator as well. i had emailed them for more information and they told me they were not allowed (yet) to sell in the US. i read their web site and it sounded like an interesting piece of equipment that would not only heat the house, but power it as well and it supposedly generated more than enough electricity to supply a household.....all on natural gas.

unfortunately, i lost the web page and i'm too lazy to search thru months of posts to find it. so, i agree that europe is way ahead with boiler systems.

 

[coog]

Time for a little Black Market action, eh?