Questions and Answers for HTP Elite FT Gas Heating Water Boiler with 155,000 BTU

A:  That depends by what you mean by work? Boilers are not sized based on the style of the home nor the number of floors. As I am sure you can imagine the same home if located in Alaska would need a completely different size than the same him in Florida. The proper way to size a heating appliance is to do a heat loss calculation. There are a number of free programs on line you can utilize to do this. You enter the room sizes, construction type, geographic location, etc. The program will then calculate the capacity you will need to install to satisfy the heat-loss experienced on the coldest hour of the coldest day of the year. This boiler is advanced. Most have two speeds, "on and off" This one dimmers up and down based on the amount of heat the home is extracting. The goal is to achieve long run times at a small output, as this is when you experience the highest efficiency. This technology is very advanced for this industry. Thus you want to make sure the installer is comfortable installing this specific unit. It is my experience that each plumber has a favorite that they are familiar with. You want to insure your contractor is comfortable with the specific model you buy as they all install with different piping methodology and installation is the biggest factor in the longevity and reliability of a modulating condensing boiler. As an analogy, "you don;t have a Ferrari mechanic work on a Chevy or vise versa.

A:  An indirect fired hot water heater is a heat exchanger where the boiler water goes through a coil in a tank to heat the surrounding drinking water rather than either a radiator or baseboard. As it is essentially a separate zone of heat you can typically add one to any boiler this one included. If you look in the installation instructions that are available under "Info and Guides" on the Home Depot web site that specifically address use of an indirect with this boiler. On a side note when I design a hydroinic heating system I don;t add anything to the heat loss calculation for the indirect, however I make sure the boiler has a minimum capacity of 100,000 BTU's. Using an indirect on a boiler smaller than that means the hot water supply will be inconsistent. For example the heat load in my home is only 60,000 BTU's but I installed a boiler, like this one that has the ability to modulate up to almost 180,000 BTU's. The only time it will got to these high out puts in when there are calls for hot water. By sizing the boiler relative to my indirect I am guaranteed unlimited hot water.

A:  I believe strongly in the concept of due no harm. Your question would require that I have more information to give you a sound opinion. I don;t want to make assumptions that cause you to make a bad decision. I take from your question that this might be a cement slab with radiant tube embedded into it. If that be the case I would want to know the water temperature it was designed for. Slabs often need a very small number of BTU's, over a long period of time at fairly low temperatures. For example I did a system in an 10000 square foot airplane hanger, that worked quite well using a 40,000 BTU water heater generating 100F water. There was no reason for me to use a boiler intended to make 180F water and then dilute it for my slab. It would have been like operating a Lamborghini in a traffic jam. Not good for the car or comfortable for the passenger. A good running radiant system needs harmony between all its components or it can be very problematic. Please feel free to give me a call and I can try to help you dial this in. I am sorry but given the information I just cant give a yes or no answer. Chris 978 651 3301