The traditional boiler works very much like a storage tank water heater. The boiler stores some amount of water in its tank that it continuously heats. The floor heating system is triggered through activation of water circulating pumps. The pump circulates the hot water from the boiler tank through the floor pipes which in turn radiate the heat to the surrounding. The heated water circulates through the pipes in a closed loop and it is heated again by the boiler.
The boiler itself has a low efficiency to begin with and it is lowered over time by build ups in the its tank. It is also not designed to heat the water in the tank rapidly. The rate the heated water dissipates its heat through the pipes to the surrounding and the ability of the boiler to reheat the cooled down water again is most the time not the same. Often the heat is much faster dissipated than it is reheated. This has the effect that the cooled water is continuously circulated through the floor heating pipes. The result is that the heating system degrades more and more over time and it takes much longer to heat the surrounding. This degraded responsiveness not only lowers the comfort level but it also wastes more and more energy over time.
Now how is a tankless water heater better for radiant heating? Well, let's see first how a tankless water heater functions. It has no tank and hence the term tankless. There is no water to be kept hot at all times. The water is heated as needed "on the fly". Water is fed through a super efficient heat exchanger and heated. The water temperature is heated to the selected temperature setting precisely by adjusting the gas burner's flame accordingly. Water temperature sensors monitor the water temperature and the tankless water heater's computer modulates the burner. This means that the water is never over heated or under heated. This means that regardless of the heat dissipating rate of the pipes the water is heated to the set temperature instantly due to the ability of the tankless water heater to vary its heating flame and power. The result is a very responsive system that can quickly replenish the lost heat in the pipes and therefore quickly heat the floor in case of floor heating application.
The traditional tank boiler is not able to do this because it cannot vary its flame intensity. A properly designed and installed system provides then comfortable and efficient floor heating regulated by a standard thermostat inside the home. Besides providing fast heating response the hydronic system enables large continued energy savings for years lowering significantly the operating cost of floor heating.
Joseph Eichler, a renowned home builder constructed many homes in northern California and other parts of the country with very distinct progressive features. One of those features was that these homes had a hydronic system for heating employing copper pipes laid in the floor for heating. The homes are generally known as Eichler Homes were built in the 1950s and 1960s and enjoy great popularity. Their old and mostly deteriorated boiler systems can be revived with new tankless water heater technology with great efficiency and greatly enhanced performance.
We have many years of experience in hydronic system design and installation. We have revived many Eichler Home's floor heating at a very affordable cost. We are passionate in energy conservation that is economically feasible and affordable. Contact us for your next project.
Al Sagafi is involved in Energy conservation and renewable energy production at companies http://www.allied-solar.com and http://www.justtankless.com
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