I purchased a 2700 sf house that has hydronic baseboard heat. I have only lived in homes with forced air heat so I am not familiar with hydronic baseboard heat.

I am planning to totally remodel this house. The propane boiler is original..1966 and will be replaced. It seems the latest trend is to replace a boiler with a tankless water heater. Sounds good I am into energy efficiency. What are the pros and cons?

My concern is, can a tankless water heater supply enough hot water to keep this house comfortable during the winter months?

 

Hello,
Your much better off with a real boiler.
Tankless heaters will not last as long.
Have tiny passages, that take hugely powerfull pumps with big electric bills.
Don't have outdoor and purging reset contols.
Among other reasons.
Best to get a real boiler, made to heat a big house.


Peter

 

Many states do not allow a water heater to be used as a boiler due to not having an "H" stamp. Many are using a mod/con boiler. Very similar to the tankless water heater but is a boiler caring the "H" stamp.
The boiler choice is going to be dependent on radiation type. If you are doing a remodel I assume you are going to insulate. Try to get through with the existing boiler until the home is tightened up so you can get the smallest boiler possible. Make sure you do a heat loss when the time comes so you don't waste all your money and time tightening up the home and than buy a boiler that is too large. The most efficient operation is a properly sized boiler. Remember when the time comes, the amount of radiation, the type of radiation or water volume has nothing to do with the boiler size.