In-floor heating - boiler or tankless water heater

[Andy Burn]

Good morning!
I plan to switch from an electric water heater to a propane-based heating system for my in-floor heating. I've been intrigued by the performance of the Takagi tankless water heater, as installed by 2Biz. Regrettably, the Takagi brand isn't accessible for purchase in Canada. I'm currently considering two alternatives: a 199,000 BTU Navien unit priced at $2700 or a Rinnai unit priced at $2400. On the other hand, my supplier is strongly recommending the option of a dedicated boiler – either the Eco King at $4000 or the NTI at $4400 – over the water heaters. I'm seeking your advice on this matter.
Regards
Andy

 

[Roz]

We installed two Navien 199k BTU boilers such that only one comes on until more heat is required. They are tied together and the software manages the system. I am able to view the system via a phone. It replaced a 400k BTU monster from 1990 that just drank natural gas.

We may do the same at our other wash. Have not experienced a winter with it as it was installed in May. I think it was recently featured by Navien as it looks like a piece of art (from a plumbers perspective). We also cleaned up the pipe mess from the original owner of the wash.

We gained ALOT of floor space as everything is mounted on a wall too.

green hot water tank on left was replaced with Navien on the wall back in 2017 when we did a total renovation of the wash.

boiler on right is what we replaced this year. Will be interesting to see how the utility bills change.

 

[Overachiever]

I had a 699k BTU boiler that I replaced with two 199k Takagi's following 2Biz's guide. It's definitely saving me a ton of money... I plumbed it myself, so learned a few lessons there and it's not as pretty as Roz's.

Maybe not the smartest idea but I ended up removing the tiny screen filters on the heaters because they kept getting clogged with crap in my line and the whole home filter I tried using to clean my system was restricting flow too much. But they have worked fine that way the last 3 winters and if they did break, I've saved so much money I'd be happy with just replacing them with new units.. haha.

 

[New Washdog]

Good morning!
I plan to switch from an electric water heater to a propane-based heating system for my in-floor heating. I've been intrigued by the performance of the Takagi tankless water heater, as installed by 2Biz. Regrettably, the Takagi brand isn't accessible for purchase in Canada. I'm currently considering two alternatives: a 199,000 BTU Navien unit priced at $2700 or a Rinnai unit priced at $2400. On the other hand, my supplier is strongly recommending the option of a dedicated boiler – either the Eco King at $4000 or the NTI at $4400 – over the water heaters. I'm seeking your advice on this matter.
Regards
Andy

Stay away from Rinnai! I have six Rinnai units between the wash and rental apartments. I have had major issues with them and dont get me started parts availability dating to way before covid! I also have had two Lochinvar boilers for about five years and have had no issues.

 

[OurTown]

I had a 699k BTU boiler that I replaced with two 199k Takagi's following 2Biz's guide. It's definitely saving me a ton of money... I plumbed it myself, so learned a few lessons there and it's not as pretty as Roz's.

We have a 2003 687,000 BTU unit and want to do the exact same thing.

 

[kdersch]

I had a 699k BTU boiler that I replaced with two 199k Takagi's following 2Biz's guide. It's definitely saving me a ton of money... I plumbed it myself, so learned a few lessons there and it's not as pretty as Roz's.

Maybe not the smartest idea but I ended up removing the tiny screen filters on the heaters because they kept getting clogged with crap in my line and the whole home filter I tried using to clean my system was restricting flow too much. But they have worked fine that way the last 3 winters and if they did break, I've saved so much money I'd be happy with just replacing them with new units.. haha.

Do you have a copy of this by chance?

Thanks!

 

[Overachiever]

Do you have a copy of this by chance?

Thanks!

Yes, here is the old post - https://www.carwashforum.com/threads/tankless-water-heater-for-floor-heat.9409/

 

[Earl Weiss]

We installed two Navien 199k BTU boilers such that only one comes on until more heat is required. They are tied together and the software manages the system. I am able to view the system via a phone. It replaced a 400k BTU monster from 1990 that just drank natural gas.

We may do the same at our other wash. Have not experienced a winter with it as it was installed in May. I think it was recently featured by Navien as it looks like a piece of art (from a plumbers perspective). We also cleaned up the pipe mess from the original owner of the wash.

We gained ALOT of floor space as everything is mounted on a wall too.

green hot water tank on left was replaced with Navien on the wall back in 2017 when we did a total renovation of the wash.

boiler on right is what we replaced this year. Will be interesting to see how the utility bills change.

Does not look like a dielectric fitting where copper meats the Pipe in right side of photo?