Hot Water Boiler System

When the snow is falling the last thing you want to think about is shoveling the driveway.  But no matter how nice the falling snow looks, and how much fun it can be, eventually the driveway, sidewalk, steps, and patio need to be cleared.  Today's hydronic heating systems can solve this problem with Radiant Snow Melting. 

Radiant Snow Melt systems circulates warm water / glycol solution through flexible tubes just under the surface.  Advanced systems monitor the moisture and temperature and automatically turn on to melt the snow as it falls.  These systems have been used for many years at ski resorts, hospitals and nursing homes where it is critical to keep surfaces clear to minimize falls.

Radiant Living Magazine recently examined a unique snow-melt application in Greenwich, CT. Click here for the entire article (Spring 2012).   Triangle Tube's Prestige 399 condensing boilers were used in this featured application.  The Prestige Condensing, Modulating Boilers will operate at peak efficiency in snow melt applications.  Snow melt systems operate at low temperatures which maximize the efficiency of condensing boilers. 

Triangle Tube Condensing Boilers provide for all of your heating needs,  The most common use is for space heating with traditional radiators, baseboard, or radiant floor installations.  Pairing a boiler with a Smart Indirect Water Heater provides efficient domestic hot water.  Snow Melt and Pool Heating are perfect for the condensing boilers as they operate at maximum efficiency.

The unusually warm winter in North America has cut everyone's heating costs this year - but the biggest winners by far are homeowners heating with high efficiency condensing hydronic heating systems.  The two features of condensing boilers that contribute to these large savings are Modulation and Outdoor Reset.

Modulation is the process that increases or decreases the heat output, or firing rate, of the boiler.  Just like your kitchen stove, a modulating boiler can adjust its heat output but it doesn't need a person there to make the adjustment.  The boiler's control monitors the heat absorbed by the house by measuring the temperature of the boiler water as it leaves and as it returns to the boiler.  The larger the temperature difference, the more heat the boiler must add to the water, and the higher the firing rate that the control will create.

Non-modulating boilers operate at full fire all of the time.  This is inefficient for two reasons.  First, the boiler is least efficient at full fire, and most efficient at low fire.  So the longer the boiler can run at low fire, the more efficient it is.  Second, each time the boiler starts and stops it loses efficiency.  Modulating boilers run longer at lower temperatures, minimizing the starts and stops.

Outdoor reset is a simple yet extremely important part of a high efficiency system.  An outdoor sensor tells the boiler's control what the temperature is outside.  The boiler uses this information to adjust the temperature of the water that the boiler supplies to the radiant emitters.  This supply water does not need to be as hot during warm weather as it does during cold weather.  By supplying lower temperature water to the system, the boiler can maximize its efficiency.  Click here for outdoor reset basics.

Triangle Tube provides three models of condensing boilers.  The Prestige models feature a stainless steel fire tube heat exchanger with a full featured TriMax control and are available from 60 to 399 MBH.  The Prestige Excellence provides heat and up to 180 gallons per hour of hot water from its indirect water heater.  The Challenger models are available for both heating only (Solo), and combination heat and hot water (Combi) applications.  Challenger boilers are sized from 85 MBH to 150 MBH.   The Keystone models feature a stainless steel water tube heat exchanger and are available in sizes from 399 to 850 MBH for larger residences and light commercial applications. 

Contact Triangle Tube today for more information.

The New Prestige Condensing Boiler has advanced features that further advance its position as the most reliable, user-friendly, and easy to install natural gas or propane boiler available.  The Prestige's high efficiency design provides an AFUE of 96% making it the green choice for residential and light commercial hydronic heating systems.  The Prestige Solo can be combined with a Smart Indirect Water Heater for domestic water needs while the Prestige Excellence can provide both space heating and domestic hot water from a single unit.

This video provides an overview of the advanced features of the new Prestige.  For more infomation visit Triangle Tube's website today. 

When the Anchorage Housing Authority approached Bittner Plumbing and Heating to upgrade the heat and hot water for their 44 unit apartment building, they wanted a system that would be efficient and reliable.  Paul Bittner of Bittner Plumbing and Heating worked with Mark Herrington at Heating and Ventilation sales to design in a Triangle Tube Prestige Cascade boiler system with Smart Indirect Water heaters to do the job.

The 44 units are heated with baseboard radiation and the hot water for all units is provided by the twin 120 gallon Smart tanks.  ThePrestige Cascade Condensing Boiler unit is built with three 399 MBH boilers.  This provides a highly efficient and effective boiler plant.  By combining the three boilers, a turndown of over 10 to 1 is achieved.  This helps the plant run efficiently with parallel modulation.  With three boilers, the building has the reliability of redundancy in the event of a boiler error or maintenance.  The three boilers are vented with a common vent manifold to minimize the vent piping and provide a single vent pipe.

The Smart Indirect Water Heaters are also both highly reliable and efficient.  The inner stainless steel tank is designed to expand and contract as the water temperature changes during use.  This tank expansion eliminates scale build-up which reduces efficiency and leads to tank failures.  The unique tank-in-tank design provides a large surface area for heat transfer which reduces the amount of time required to heat the water.  These two Smart units replaced conventional direct fired water heaters.  The Smart tanks have 2" of foam insulation completely surrounding the tanks, keeping heat loss down to less than 2 degrees F per hour.

The Housing Authority's decision to upgrade their cast iron boilers and conventional water heaters with Triangle Tube's efficient Prestige and Smart models is saving money every day. As the heating season progresses I will post the savings data. 

The new Challenger Solo Condensing Boiler joins the Challenger Combi Boiler in providing high efficiency hydronic heating in a compact package.  The Challenger Combi boiler provides both heat and domestic hot water, eliminating the need for a separate water heater.  The Challenger Solo boiler provides heat and can provide domestic hot water when paired with an indirect water heater.

The Challenger Solo boiler features a copper tube heat exchanger with an aluminum combustion block.  This unique design is durable and suitable for glycol applications because the system water or glycol flows only in the copper piping.  The aluminum block efficiently transfers the heat from the combustion air and it's light weight makes installation easy.

The Challenger Solo is available in 85, 105, and 125 MBH sizes.  These models are sized to meet the needs of today's homes.  By modulating its output to match the radiant heating needs, the Challenger Solos will operate longer at lower temperatures, which improves efficiency.  These sizes of the Challenger Solo have an AFUE of 95% and operate on either natural gas or propane. 

The Challenger Solos can provide domestic hot water when paired with a Smart Indirect Water Heater.  The Smart can be sized to fit the needs of the residence, providing the instant hot water response that is expected from traditional tank water heaters, with the efficiency of an instantaneous water heater.

Click here for information about the Challenger Solo Condensing Boiler or other Triangle Tube products.

There are rapid advances in the use of the sun's energy that are making it attractive to a growing number of homeowners.  While solar power has been available for decades (even the White House had panels in the 1970's), the activity in this market is reaching a fever pitch.  These advances are reducing the costs of installation, which is driving new business, driving new investment, further reducing the costs.  That is the power of progress.

One of the best paybacks today in the solar market is solar thermal - using the sun to heat a home's hot water - and even help with some space heating.  The concept is actually very simple.  Circulate water or glycol through rooftop tubes that heat the water and then transfer that heat to domestic water.  Of course it is more complicated than it sounds and there are a lot of ways to get this done.  But the bottom line is that these relatively simple and compact systems can offset much of the energy used to heat the hot water in a home.  And this is significant because hot water heating makes up 25% of household energy costs.

Triangle Tube offers a solar hot water solution for homes with hydronic heating.  The Smart Multi-Energy (SME) Indirect Water Heater is designed to integrate solar energy into the complete hydronic system.  The  SME contains a heat transfer coil that transfers the heat from the solar panels to the hydronic system water that surrounds a domestic water tank.  This large volume of water (both hydronic system and domestic) is able to maximize the  heat energy from the solar panels.

When the solar panels are not able to meet the demand, the hydronic system provides heat from a boiler.  Triangle Tube's Prestige and Challenger natural gas or propane boilers are green choices as their AFUE's are 96% and 95% respectively.  They feature low NOx emissions and modulating controls using outdoor reset to minimize their carbon footprint.

There are four keys to successfully replacing your boiler.  By following these keys, you will ensure a fast trouble-free installation and much lower utility bills.  

1)  Selecting the right product - Craftsmen will tell you that building a fine piece of furniture starts with selecting the right wood.  The same is true in boiler replacement.  By selecting a reliable, highly efficient boiler, you will ensure that the project will be a success if the three other keys are followed.  Choosing a poorly designed product will ensure long term dissatisfaction, even if the other keys are correct.  Triangle Tube's Prestige and Challenger boilers are industry leaders in reliability and efficiency.  For more information on this, see the end of this post.

2)  Select the right contractor - Once again, a good contractor will make or break the project.  There is much more involved in replacing a boiler than simply removing the old boiler and inserting a new one.  The boiler must be sized and the piping layout reviewed to ensure that the heating system works in harmony.  A good contractor will have experience and proper training to know how to join all of the parts of the heating system into an efficient, effective, heating machine.  Click here to find certified Triangle Tube contractors in your area.

3)  Size the boiler properly - A lot has changed in your home since the last boiler was installed.  Perhaps you have new windows and/or doors.  Perhaps radiant floor heating was installed.  An addition may have been added, the attic has been insulated.  A proper heat loss analysis must be performed to select the proper boiler for the house.  An boiler that is too large will cause excessive cycling and drive up energy costs.  One that is too small will not keep the house warm on the coldest days.

4)  Use outdoor reset - One of the biggest efficiency gains in new boilers is the ability to use computer technology to adjust the hydronic system to the heating load.  As the weather gets warmer, less heat is required.  By lowering the system temperature, the house is able to be heated much more efficiently.  Please make sure this important feature is being used.  For more information on outdoor reset, click here.

Triangle Tube's Prestige and Challenger boilers are modern, highly efficient, natural gas or propane boilers that have excellent track records in reliability.  With AFUEs of 95% or higher, and low NOx emissions, these are responsible, green choices for both the environment and your budget.  When paired with a Smart Indirect Fired Water Heater, they form the right solution for your residential heat and hot water needs.  

One of the positive changes in recent times has been the increased awareness of our impact on the environment.  It was not long ago that "Green" was not a part of our everyday terminology - and who ever heard of a carbon footprint.  Today a significant and ever-growing portion of society considers the environmental impact of their decisions on a regular basis.

Another recent positive change has been the increased use of natural gas.  Not only is it readily available in North America, but it is also a very clean burning fuel.  These two features make it very attractive for many consumers.  Finally, the technological advancement of hydronic (boiler) heating solutions has resulted in condensing boilers that can operate at the highest levels of efficiency.

Triangle Tube helped drive the residential condensing boiler revolution with the Prestige Condensing Boiler.  Its unique stainless steel fire tube design, high efficiency (96% AFUE), and reliability have made it a leader in its market.  When combined with a Smart Indirect Water Heater, homeowners will have an extremely efficient heating and hot water system.

Triangle Tube recently added the Challenger Combination Boiler to its lineup.  This boiler combines a high efficiency (95% AFUE) boiler with an instantaneous water heater within the same unit.  The results is an appliance that provides heat and hot water from the smallest foot print imaginable.  The Challenger is perfect for closet installations or areas where space is at a premium.  

Triangle Tube's Prestige and Challenger boilers work with both natural gas and propane.  Choose one of them for your "Green" efforts.

  

It is safe to say that most people do not give much consideration to the type of heating system when they are considering a house purchase.  But people who have experienced the benefits of radiant floor heating are certain to have this on their list.  

Radiant floor heating's growth is one of the most positive trends in the HVAC industry in recent years.  These systems have the unique feature of being energy efficient, comfortable, invisible, and silent.  In nearly every aspect they are a clear winner. 

Radiant floor heating systems are a modern alternative to the traditional cast iron radiators or the more recent hot water baseboard systems.  In a radiant floor system water (or glycol in some cases) is heated by a boiler and circulated through tubing that is installed under the floor.  This water warms the flooring and the heat then radiates throughout the home. 

There are many benefits to this process.  First, it is extremely energy efficient as the warmest part of the room is the floor, which is the part of the room people use.  A hot air furnace heats the air which enters the room through registers on the floor, but then quickly rises to the ceiling, making it the warmest part of the room.  In comparison, a room heated by radiant flooring can be kept at a lower overall temperature yet feel warmer than a room heated by hot air.

Second, the system is invisible and silent.  The tubing is under the floor and out of the way.  There is no sound of air moving through ducts.  Third the system contributes to a healthy home by minimizing dust and keeping the room at a more comfortable humidity level.  Fourth, the system is multi-functional.  A well designed hydronic heating system can heat your home, hot water, swimming pool, and even melt the snow on your driveway or walkway.

Triangle Tube is an industry leading provider of hydronic heating equipment.  The Prestige boilers lead the market with a high efficiency, reliable heat exchanger and use either natural gas or propane.  The Smart indirect water heaters heat water twice as fast as a traditional gas fired water heater and feature a unique stainless steel tank-in-tank design backed by a limited lifetime warranty.  Maxi Flo pool and spa heat exchangers enable you to use your high efficiency boiler to extend your swimming season.

Consider upgrading your home with Radiant Floor Heating.  There's no need to move to install radiant floor heating.  A certified contractor can replace your hot air system with a radiant system in many cases without disturbing the existing flooring.  Contact Triangle Tube to find a certified contractor in your area today.