I’m looking at my options for a combination water/space heating appliance. I’m liking the look of two HTP units that are completely different in operation, the Crossover Wall and Phoenix LD.

The Crossover Wall is a combination on-demand/tank heater with a small tank, 10-1 turndown and either 150k or 199k BTU ratings. The Phoenix Light Duty is a conventional tank-type water heater with condensing burners, 3-1 turndown and 76k BTU input. Both are very efficient, though feedback and reviews are limited. The Phoenix LD has some positive reviews, but relatively few.

Considering a maximum house heating load of roughly 20-25k BTU/hr, what are your thoughts of each option? House will be four bed/three bath upstairs. Pros/cons of each unit? It would seem the Crossover might be slightly cheaper, but only a few hundred dollars which isn’t enough to sway if the Phoenix LD would be the superior option.

Another thing to consider would be the ability to heat the attached garage/workshop as well as possibly operate a snow/ice melt system. For that the higher BTU output of the Crossover might be more desirable? Not sure. I wouldn’t be heating the garage to high temps, and the ice melt system would only be used on VERY rare occasions in order to avoid salting and/or chipping ice, and only for the front walkway and driveway in front of the garage, not the length of the driveway.