Energy Kinetics System 2000
flymee
| Posted in Energy Efficiency and Durability on
I’m about to replace a 45 year old cast iron boiler with a System 2000.
Any thoughts. My present boiler is about 230,000 BTU’s and it also makes all our hot water. My house is over 200 years old but fairly well insulated and first floor has old, big cast iron wall radiators. I do have one zone running to an air handler. I plan to also add a 50 gallon stainless steel water storage tank.
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Replies
I can tell you that the Energy Kinetics boilers are highly thought of on heatinghelp.com (a good source of boiler/hydronic info). But those guys will tell you that the contractor you choose/design is going to make or break the system. It's more than good equipment.
Certainly do a proper high loss/fuel use analysis to size your replacement. Don't do a like for like replacement. If you have your fuel use info do this https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/article/out-with-the-old-in-with-the-new
Depending on your cost of fuel, I'd be tempted to try and move away from oil, is propane an option? I know some of the Energy Kinetics boilers are convertable if you switch your fuel in the future.
Both oil and propane can be close to electric in terms of cost per btu in some areas.
Their not bad systems. As Josh mentioned, they can be configured for multiple fuels. They also provide a number of warranty services for replacing and servicing of parts. I'm not a big fan of have a hot water tank attached to a boiler since the boiler has to run year round but they usually use a small external heat exchanger for this so it is an option. Going with a separate HW heater will allow you to purchase a smaller, maybe more efficient unit. When you say cast iron wall heaters, do you mean baseboards? These are the best in my opinion when it comes to heating using forced hot water since they heat up and continue to radiate heat even after the t-stat is satisfied. They are expensive to replace, if you can find them, so best to keep them in place. I also agree with Josh as far as choosing the right installer. The units I service were installed by someone else and I've had to reconfigure parts of it just to be able to service it easily. The only drawback is that they have their own control board that is only available through them rather than standard pump and zone controls, but these can be added if needed for future zones. The oil burner set up runs independent of their control so basic oil burner service is easy. But overall, a good basic, pretty efficient unit.