diesel_farmer
New Member
I am building a 2600 square foot ICF home in zone 5 (central Illinois) on a concrete slab with Anderson 400 series windows and with 3" of XPS in the slab -- so it will be fairly well insulated. I had a local HVAC contractor provide a heat loss calculation of 45k btu, which I am not certain of since sometimes the ICF homes are not properly understood.
Nevertheless, I'm planning to install 7 lines of 3/4 or 7/8 pex tubing in roughly 300' runs in the slab on top of the XPS in one zone.
In the home I currently reside in I have used an electric (Thermolec) boiler with a primary/secondary loop which has worked trouble free for 8 years now with no complaints. It does require heavy electric use (higher power bills), but has provided trouble free usage. I also have used electric on-demand water heaters with trouble free usage.
Reading and discussing my options with a couple of plumbers, the local recommendation has been to install a combi boiler like a Navian for my set up with the added benefit of the hot water from the Navian. I'm concerned that this unit might be more "high maintenance" than what I have experienced with my electric boiler. I also don't want any more 2" pipe through the ICF walls than I have to -- one minor benefit of the electric boiler is the lack of required venting to the outside.
I am open to all thoughts regarding what unit I should be more seriously looking to install for my application -- i.e., an electric boiler with a stand alone on demand water heater OR an LP combi boiler.
Thanks!
Nevertheless, I'm planning to install 7 lines of 3/4 or 7/8 pex tubing in roughly 300' runs in the slab on top of the XPS in one zone.
In the home I currently reside in I have used an electric (Thermolec) boiler with a primary/secondary loop which has worked trouble free for 8 years now with no complaints. It does require heavy electric use (higher power bills), but has provided trouble free usage. I also have used electric on-demand water heaters with trouble free usage.
Reading and discussing my options with a couple of plumbers, the local recommendation has been to install a combi boiler like a Navian for my set up with the added benefit of the hot water from the Navian. I'm concerned that this unit might be more "high maintenance" than what I have experienced with my electric boiler. I also don't want any more 2" pipe through the ICF walls than I have to -- one minor benefit of the electric boiler is the lack of required venting to the outside.
I am open to all thoughts regarding what unit I should be more seriously looking to install for my application -- i.e., an electric boiler with a stand alone on demand water heater OR an LP combi boiler.
Thanks!