Indirect Water Heaters

Does anyone know a rough price of what it would cost to install an indirect water heater to a boiler? I have oil heat and I've been told I probably should install an indirect water heater because I am not getting sufficient hot water in my house. I'm just wondering more or less how much they cost. Thank you!

 

There are several different makes of indirect hot water heating but the two most common are Amtrol and Weil McClain. There both more expensive to install than a tank water heater. The difference between the two is the Amtrol uses a coil inside a tank and the Weil McClain has a tank that surrounds another tank. They both cost about $1,000. to install.

You do have other options besides indirect or tank water heating. You might want to consider tankless electric hot water heating in conjunction with your present system and alone during the summer. There are some concerns with this type of system. You can to go http://www.tankless-water-heater.com/what_to_expect.htm and this site explains what to expect from this type of system. It may be a better option for you.

 

If I were to just skip getting a water heater and get a brand new boiler (which I think cost approx. $3000), would this solve the problem of not having hot water? I'm just afraid that I will have the same problem in a few years when the boiler isn't brand new anymore. (I've been told the reason I'm not getting enough hot water is because years of debris and stuff have built up on the coils inside the boiler and the solution would be an indirect water heater or buying a new boiler). I just want to know what to buy that will actually fix this problem, because either way is not cheap, and I'm afraid to spend thousands on something that will only be a "band-aid" to this problem.

Thanks for your help!

 

We just had a 40 gal Bock indirect fired water storage tank installed. They actually disconnected the tankless hot water coils so those are no longer used to heat water. The company (in Worcester, MA) charged a flat fee of $1600 for tank and labor for the installation and it took about 1/2 day for them to do it. Since we have only had it 2 weeks, I can't comment yet on its cost efficiency.

 

Indirect water heating is not an energy efficient method of heating water. The trade off with it is that it produces large amount of hot water per hour. An example is a 40 gal. gas hot water heating tank that has a recovery of 44 gallons per hour. That comes to about 84 gallons of hot water in its first hour. The average indirect water heating system starts well above 100 gallons per hour and subsequent hours. I have the Weil McClain Gold series 30 and it produces 240 gallons of 120 degree F. water per hour. I'm an Energy Conservationist and I have 2 teenage girls and I know this product is not energy efficient. But I refuse to take a cold shower in my home or have to wait to take one. That's the reason why this product is in my home. If you want to know more about this product and other types of water heating from an energy conservationist view, you can go to my site at http://www.resercon.com/Water.html

As far as if it will resolve your problem concerning the corrosion build up on the coil, yes it will because the coil inside the boiler is eliminated. The reason why this corrosion builds up on the coil inside the boiler is because of the temperature difference between the boiler temp. and the incoming ambient water temp. of cold water causes minerals in water to be attracted to the coil. This temperature difference is alliviated with indirect water heating systems and the minerals do not accumulate as a result. The primary reason why indirect water heating came about.