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QUESTION:I'm in the preliminary stages of planning the heating system for a
3000sf house to be built next year in the Puget Sound area of
Washington state. Most of the house will be built on a 2400sf slab
but there is a small second floor of about 600sf. I'm thinking of
using in-slab hydronic heat for the first floor and wall-mounted or
baseboard radiators run off the boiler for the second floor. LP is
the most available fuel choice, so I'm looking for efficiency to keep
my fuel bills under control. We're looking at long-term ownership, so
I don't mind a bit more up-front outlay in exchange for reliability
and efficiency. Boiler choice seems to be a crucial issue to get
right. One of the boilers I've come across that looks promising is
the Trinity from NY Thermal out of Canada. Here is a link for more
technical info:
http://www.nythermal.com/Products/boilers/gas/trinity.htm
Does anyone on the list have practical experience with this
boiler or for that matter NY Thermal in general. It looks like
they've been around for a while. Their claim of 94% efficiency for
this model piqued my interest, but I don't want some science project
that's going to be problematic and short-lived. Please excuse my
ignorance in this area. I have a structural background and limited
HVAC experience. This project is meant to be a learning experience
for me. Before going much further, I intend to delve into several
hydronic heating references including books by Dan Holoman and John
Siegenthaler.
ANSWER: What about the NY Thermal Trinity as a boiler choice? Any
experience or opinions? My B.I.L. owns a commercial plumbing outfit
and is finishing up a 2000sf in-slab hydronic system at his own house.
He's planning to stick with a cast iron boiler from Weil McClain or
Burnham because he says this will be the most bullet-proof
installation and long-term service should not be an issue. His
approach does not surprise me, because he's very conservative and
tends to avoid anything too "cutting edge". I'm attracted to the
higher effeciencies promised by some of the stainless steel boilers
like the Trinity, in light of the fact that propane will probably be
the only practical choice for fuel in our rather rural location. I
had thought about the idea of an electric heat-pump powering a
hydronic system, but so far I've found very little info on this
approach.
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