Faderus
New Member
Hi everyone, thanks in advance for any help.
I have a 1960 split level house in Poughkeepsie, NY (12601). The insulation is original in the exterior walls but I had the roof deck and garage ceiling and common wall Spray foamed (open cell, 8" on roof deck with joists encapsulated 1-2", 6" on garage ceiling and 4" on common wall.) Approx 1100 sq ft' upstairs and 600 sq finished basement area with about half the wall height below grade.
Currently I have a 160k BTU 80% NG boiler and 12-15 year old NG water heater. Everything is working well but the water heater is getting old, and I'd like to reclaim the space where the water heater and boiler live (immediately at the foot of the stairs.) There are 2 zones, Upstairs and down. The bedrooms (above the garage) tend to be somewhat colder than the living area upstairs so I was considering splitting the upstairs into 2 zones.
I used the SlantFin calculator and came up with the following numbers for the upper floor:
Living area (LR, Entry, Kitchen and Dining area):
20,344 BTU 42’ BB
Master BR: 5400 BTU 17’ BB
BR 2: 4500 BTU 9’ BB
BR 3: 2600 BTU 7’ BB
Bath: 1395 BTU 3’ BB
I haven’t run the basement calculations yet but expect them to be around 8k.
I looked into this project 18 months ago and got a variety of boiler recommendations but now EVERYONE is recommending Navien systems of various sizes for HW on demand and baseboard heat.
I was initially looking at a Buderus GB142 with an indirect tank under the stairs to maximize space. I was told by one installer that Buderus is having issues with the heat exchanger warranty and that was why they stopped recommending them.
Overall my goal is to maximize space, and save some money on utilities but I do not want to introduce a lot of headaches for the sake of saving a couple hundred dollars a year. I am also suspicious of the longevity of the Navien systems, but hesitant to overrule the equipment recommendations of the installers.
I have a Solar array being installed later this week so will have access to relatively inexpensive electricity if that makes a heatpump water heater make more sense.
Any input or suggestions?
I have a 1960 split level house in Poughkeepsie, NY (12601). The insulation is original in the exterior walls but I had the roof deck and garage ceiling and common wall Spray foamed (open cell, 8" on roof deck with joists encapsulated 1-2", 6" on garage ceiling and 4" on common wall.) Approx 1100 sq ft' upstairs and 600 sq finished basement area with about half the wall height below grade.
Currently I have a 160k BTU 80% NG boiler and 12-15 year old NG water heater. Everything is working well but the water heater is getting old, and I'd like to reclaim the space where the water heater and boiler live (immediately at the foot of the stairs.) There are 2 zones, Upstairs and down. The bedrooms (above the garage) tend to be somewhat colder than the living area upstairs so I was considering splitting the upstairs into 2 zones.
I used the SlantFin calculator and came up with the following numbers for the upper floor:
Living area (LR, Entry, Kitchen and Dining area):
20,344 BTU 42’ BB
Master BR: 5400 BTU 17’ BB
BR 2: 4500 BTU 9’ BB
BR 3: 2600 BTU 7’ BB
Bath: 1395 BTU 3’ BB
I haven’t run the basement calculations yet but expect them to be around 8k.
I looked into this project 18 months ago and got a variety of boiler recommendations but now EVERYONE is recommending Navien systems of various sizes for HW on demand and baseboard heat.
I was initially looking at a Buderus GB142 with an indirect tank under the stairs to maximize space. I was told by one installer that Buderus is having issues with the heat exchanger warranty and that was why they stopped recommending them.
Overall my goal is to maximize space, and save some money on utilities but I do not want to introduce a lot of headaches for the sake of saving a couple hundred dollars a year. I am also suspicious of the longevity of the Navien systems, but hesitant to overrule the equipment recommendations of the installers.
I have a Solar array being installed later this week so will have access to relatively inexpensive electricity if that makes a heatpump water heater make more sense.
Any input or suggestions?