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they also aren't very hot and wont work in northern cities, but people will install them there anyway. "boiler" - is that jargon for multiple kinds of heating u
by uconnectlol 2y ago
they also aren't very hot and wont work in northern cities, but people will install them there anyway. "boiler" - is that jargon for multiple kinds of heating units or actually just boilers?
- twic 2y agoBy boiler i mean the big box on the wall in the kitchen which burns natural gas to heat water. This may be a UK specific usage.
- foresto 2y agoI think this is known as a tankless water heater in the US. (Tankless because you said it's on the wall.)
- komadori 2y agoBoilers in the UK are usually mounted on the inside of an exterior wall to provide for venting exhaust gases outside. They may provide hot water on-demand without a tank (combi boiler) or fill a hot water cylinder on a schedule (system boiler) depending on type. Heating is typically provided by the boiler pumping hot water through a circuit of wall-mounted radiators regulated by TRVs (Thermostatic Radiator Valves).
- sgerenser 2y agoBoilers are definitely much more common in the UK than US. I believe New England is one of the few areas of the US that has a relatively high percentage of homes with hydronic+boiler heating setups. In most other parts of the U.S., many people probably have no idea what a boiler even is.
- mattpallissard 2y agoPretty common in the Northwest part of the country as well.
- doctorhandshake 2y agoAre you saying heat pumps won’t work in cold climates? That hasn’t been true in some time. https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/article/heat-pumps-for-cold-climates https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/article/heat-pumps-for-...
- bluGill 2y agoHeat pumps work down to -25C. Cold climates get colder than that. Sure most cold climates are typically above that, but it only takes one night every 10 years to hit those temperatures and a heat pump alone does not work. You need a backup. Of cousre once we have a backup we can ask if it is cost effect - heat pumps get less efficient as temperatures go down - when you need the most heat, so it may be most cost effective to install a heat pump that doesn't even work to that cold (perhaps it does but is under sized?) and just use backup heat when it is cold.
- wtallis 2y agoOne night where the outside temperature gets below -25C is not a serious problem. If you had the heat pump keeping your house at a comfortable temperature the day before, you aren't going to die of hypothermia or have pipes freeze overnight. You'll just wake up to a house that's chilly inside and takes most of the day to get back up to where you want it. Sustained cold spells are where you need an alternative heat source.
- google234123 2y agoAlso electric heaters are dirt cheap - get a bunch 20$ ones
- wlonkly 2y agoOr conveniently mount one inside your air handler!
- doctorhandshake 2y agoWhat you’re talking about is factored in to system design - it’s called the 1% design temperature. https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/article/design-temperature-vs-degree-days https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/article/design-temperat... As CP says, you design your system for the conditions 99% of the time, because designing for that last 1% leads to a terrible cost benefit calculation. Same reason you don’t daily drive an armored personnel carrier with a 300-gallon gas tank.