Recent content by Jeff Daley

Looking at some of those mini split systems, knowing that I won't be doing any of the installation, I can't see getting out of a full-home system (outdoor unit, 4 indoor units, ducting, and associated installation) for less than $12K, and probably more than that. For some context on the cost of...

Aside from the aesthetics of not having a large device hanging on the wall, are there any inherent benefits to a ducted system vs ductless? If not, I'm not sure it's worth the premium in installation cost for the low profile aesthetics. Regarding the primary/secondary loop plumbing question, I...

Following up here...was talking to a boiler installation pro who had earlier given us a bid. He seemed receptive to my concerns about short cycling and was doing some of his own research. Focusing on the minimum BTU side of things, he suggested I look at the NTI FTV110C and FTV150C - both with...

Thanks houptee. To answer your last question, the house has not had hot water or working radiators since even before the thread started, however, we have been staying in a rental place the past several weeks as we are having a lot of work done on the place so it is basically uninhabitable...

I've got five 5' baseboards - 1 each in a kitchen and 2 bedrooms, and then 2 in the living room; and then a small 2' baseboard in the bathroom. We hope to replace the baseboards with panels, though that will likely happen in a couple phases and probably not right off the bat when we replace the...

Well, just had an interesting chat with the techs at HTP. I wanted to get their thoughts on using the Crossover in double duty as DHW and space heat, and also ask them about the differences between the RGH20-75 vs the 76 (I still don't know what they are - it can't just be 1,000 BTU output) and...

Really appreciate all the help here. I'm going to start talking to a few pros and kick their tires about this basic approach and using the Crossover as the heating unit. Though I'd like to avoid taking on this job myself due to bandwidth issues and for the peace of mind of having a pro who...

Well...maybe just scratch my entire previous post. As I was looking into various schematics for plumbing a combi boiler with a buffer tank, most of the ones I've seen include the DHW heating accomplished via an external BPHE...and I guess that makes sense, otherwise you're drawing your DHW off...

Apologize for the delay in following up - been out of town for work. Have done a bit more research on the issue and as you and others have pointed out in various forums, one of the fundamental issues is a mismatch in the capabilities of what combi boilers provide on the central heat side and...

The Rinnai is mounted on an exterior wall and vents through that wall. Using the heat load calculator here: https://www.loadcalc.net/load, I came up with some surprisingly high numbers - over 19,000 BTU for heating and 15,000 BTU for cooling. Wasn't expecting that for an 850 sq ft house, but...

Thanks again Dana and houptee - this is great information and I really appreciate it. Also a lot to digest. A couple other comments/questions - I actually got out the tape measure and it appears we have just over 27' feet of fin-tube radiator...not a huge difference from the 22' number I...

I understand ignoring the piping when it comes to calculating the home's heat loss and BTU requirements to heat it, but with regard to estimating what the temperature of the heated water will be when it returns to the boiler after running through all the radiators and piping, it seems like the...

houptee: From what we can tell, it looks like there might be multiple failures. We've had one pro determine that the pump inside the Navien Heating Box has failed. It is receiving electricity but isn't pulling water, so nothing is circulating through the radiators. At the same time, the Rinnai...

Dana - thanks very much for the advice - I was not at all familiar with the setup you describe. As you mentioned, I wondered whether perpetual short cycling played a role in the relatively short lifespan of the current Navien tankless...but this was the system that came with the house, so I...

Thanks for the comments HJ - and fair enough. I get that the price is defined as whatever someone will pay. I guess I was hoping there might be some additional underlying logic that drives that price - along the lines of "this is really complicated stuff and only a handful of licensed plumbers...