woksawi
Basic Member
Posts:116
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| 30 Nov 2010 05:00 PM |
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We have a 2 floor, 2900 sf house with radiant heating in concrete on both floors. The house is ALL ELECTRIC. We're about to buy an Allied Electric Boiler, and were trying to pick out an electric water heater. The owner of the HVAC company we're using said NOT to use an indirect water heater, but his guy working on the job said it's a no brainer to use one.
Which is correct?
For regular water heaters, the following were recommend:
- Rheem Marathon (but this is lined with polybutylene and being sensitive, not sure I want that where the water is being stored - we have pex pipes throughout house, but I see a difference between where water will be stored versus where it will run through fast...)
- Regular Rheem Water Heater
- Bradford White
Any recommendations either way? (indirect/direct, glass lined vs polybutylene, brand?)
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jonr
Senior Member
Posts:5341
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| 30 Nov 2010 08:14 PM |
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I take it that geothermal, heat pumps and natural gas are not being considered?
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woksawi
Basic Member
Posts:116
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| 30 Nov 2010 10:10 PM |
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No natural gas in that area, propane is expensive and fluctuates but most importantly, I'm super sensitive to it, and eventually we do want geo or solar but can't afford upfront costs right now because of construction problems that have occurred. We also want to see, with AAC construction, and tons of insulation, what the first year will really be like...
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Clark
Basic Member
Posts:248
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| 01 Dec 2010 09:39 AM |
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With a natural gas boiler, an indirect water heater would be the best choice. I have a 40 gal Bradford White and am more than satisfied with its performance (standby losses, recovery time.) For an electric boiler, I'm not so sure. There likely would be greater heat losses in an indirect DHW setup. Have you compared the up front costs? |
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Dana1
Senior Member
Posts:6991
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| 01 Dec 2010 10:17 AM |
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What you get with an indirect and a electric boiler with the indirect set up as a priority zone is MUCH faster recovery times. If the electric boiler is big enough it's pretty much an endless hot water deal, just like an on-demand tankless.
If combined with a drainwater heat recovery heat exchanger even a modestly sized electric boiler puts out enough for endless showers (but no change in tub-fill rates- the drain has to be flowing at the same time as the water flow to get the benefit.) |
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