Is this good heating equipment? I saw an oil-fired boiler in a new-house installation today.
The boiler was mounted atop a hot water tank, so what I saw was a stack, a combination of boiler and hot water heating and storage system.
If Budarus is good, what else is out there that is competition?
Replies
Go to heatinghelp.com... the Wall forum
Lots of radiant contractors there, folks who install and service boilers daily.
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This is the Viessmann brand...
RBean
http://www.healthyheating.com
http://www.healthyheating.com/blog
That's one mighty clean install. You do that?
No...that install belongs to Paul Polletts from Advanced Radiant Technologies in Seattle.
Here's a clean install showing some of the new modern prepackaged control panels.
View ImageRBean
http://www.healthyheating.com
http://www.healthyheating.com/blog
Those look like Wirsbo ProPanels. Are they?
Do they save time and money?
They are.
60/40/20
60% reduction in installation times
40% reduction in trouble shooting issues
20% reduction in start up times.
Either Wirsbo proPanels or Danfoss ZCP series deliver these stats which came from a year long survey of contractors using them.
This is one of the Danfoss units. (Foley Mechanical)
View ImageRBean
http://www.healthyheating.com
http://www.healthyheating.com/blog
But here is my question, and it is back to money.
Should my heating subcontractor charge me less, or more, using the prefab, versus buying components and doing the whole arrangement in the field?
Great question!<!----><!---->
The evolution of preassembled boiler system is parallel to the auto industry...which means...the contracting (fabrication) company owned and operated by a business man will charge you the same price as if a contracting (fabrication) company operated by a contractor was doing the installation.<!---->
The test is the contracting business which charges more for factory made products may be truly paying unreasonable prices for the "boiler room in a box" because distribution treats it as components rather than finished goods or the distribution chain including the contractor is manipulating the dollars in favor of custom assembled stuff...(think back early 1900's with cars)
This trend by the way has been slowly developing over the past 25 years and really is just getting going...anyone who says this is a short lived fad is in denial...the reality...every electro-mechanical system in a modern home is prefabricated (fridges, stoves, dishwashers, garage door openers, furnaces, air conditioners, water heaters etc...are all prefabricated and come in cabinets...) and most of the devices are far more complicated than hydronic heating systems...like this dual purpose combined washer and dryer. It has pumps, heaters, blowers, motors, switches, relays, timers, drains, hot/cold water connections, line voltage connections, programming, blah blah blah etc....but the average hydronic heating systems is made to look far more complicated than this piece of sophisticated machinery which we affectionately call 'a washing machine.'<!---->
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Beans' Rules for Design<!----><!---->
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1. Design for People - Design for Simplicity - Design for Familiarity<!---->
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2.Think Power Cords (requires no instructions)<!---->
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3.Imagine owning your design in 20 years (can you afford to deal with it when you're old)<!---->
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4.Innoculate for failure. ( will you suffer when something breaks down)
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Last but not least…the sign of a great designer is one who can create something you the owner can understand rather than create something which requires you to learn what they the contractor understands.<!---->
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Just my two cents...<!---->
RBean
http://www.healthyheating.com
http://www.healthyheating.com/blog
Edited 2/8/2005 10:16 pm ET by RB
Edited 2/8/2005 10:20 pm ET by RB
Edited 2/8/2005 10:22 pm ET by RB
Buderus is high quality stuff. Their main offering is a high-mass boiler, with a super-insulated jacket to keep things warm between cycles for combustion efficiency (and low jacket losses in summer). They offer a nice control package as well. The next big thing from the Germans (and others) should be low temp condensing oil boilers, which they already sell in Europe.
The stacking feature is reallly just for compact packaging, with a super-insulated indirect tank below. Also looks cool, right?