| You have or are thinking about buying a Combi | | | | problem you will find that boilers are typically very |
| Boiler. Read this first because I will explain to you | | | | poorly insulated. The amount of heat that you will |
| why you either have or are going to make a | | | | lose because of this poor insulation is unbelievable. |
| very big mistake. | | | | Rather than go with this method of water |
| Combination boilers are called just that because | | | | heating, set up your boiler with a separate zone |
| they combine your hot water production and your | | | | for an indirect water heater. Indirect hot water |
| space heating together with one boiler. The | | | | heaters transfer heat just as effectively, and |
| problem lies in the way that they produce hot | | | | they are usually very well insulated. The |
| water. To make the water hot, these boilers | | | | temperature drop in these indirect tanks is |
| have a coil inside the chamber that the water for | | | | typically less than 1 degree F per hour. That's not |
| the space heating is held. The heat is transferred | | | | very much! |
| through the copper coil wall from the one water | | | | Keep in mind that even though this setup may |
| to the other. | | | | cost you a bit more up front, that in the long run |
| The heat transfer of the efficiency of the | | | | you will be saving more everyday. With the price |
| transfer is not the problem. The problem is that | | | | of heating fuels going up daily you can bet that |
| you have to keep the boiler hot all of the time to | | | | the indirect tank will pay for its self in a very |
| make sure that you will have heat to make the | | | | short period of time. |
| water hot when you need it. To compound the | | | | |