Condensing Boiler Plant Piping Design & Control Part 4: What is Specific Heat and Why You Should Care?

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Special care must be taken in the design of condensing boiler systems with low water volume -- especially condensing boiler systems with water tube boilers. If not correctly designed, boilers will perpetually short cycle or (worse) constantly go off on high limit temperature. Why is this a problem with low water volume systems? It all has to do with Specific Heat....
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Condensing Boiler Plant Piping Design & Control Part 3: Variable Primary/Variable Secondary Flow Systems

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Variable primary/variable secondary flow is the top tier strategy for optimizing your condensing boiler system. You’re not only precisely load-matching your supply with demand, you’re setting up your primary pumps for pretty easy duty. But how would such a system be piped?
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Condensing Boiler Plant Piping Design & Control Part 1: Setpoint Control Sensor Location

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Where should the boiler set point control sensor be located in a condensing boiler system? Given the fact that we (hopefully) know that the return water to a natural gas-fired condensing boiler should be 120°F or below in order for the boiler to condense, simple logic may lead you to believe that you should control based on the return water temperature...
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Energy Efficient Hot Water Boiler Plant Design Part 6: Best Applications for Condensing Boilers

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Condensing boiler applications dovetail nicely with most of today’s energy efficient HVAC strategies, as well as ASHRAE 90.1 – 2010 and 2013 requirements. New and existing boiler plants are ripe with opportunities for condensing technology and can offer payback in as little as 2-3 years. Here we’ve listed some of the top applications for condensing boilers and why they are a good choice in each situation...
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Energy Efficient Hot Water Boiler Plant Design Part 5: Fan Coils, Pumps & Flow Control

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So you’ve decided to use condensing boilers on your next project – GREAT! Just remember that this decision will impact other aspects of your mechanical design. Condensing boilers DO NOT operate properly in systems that are designed around traditional non-condensing technology.
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