A commercial water boiler is designed for space heating purposes. As an illustration, it works ideally for universities, libraries, office buildings, schools, laundries, hospitals, and other similar facilities. To choose the right commercial water boiler, you should take into consideration several aspects. Specifically, observe their process, their fuel consumption, their condensation, and their efficiency.
A commercial water boiler can use propane, natural gas, light oil, or non-fueled electricity, to provide hot water or steam for process requirements or comfort heating. So, depending on the boiler selected and its application, they can have fuel efficiency as high as 99%. There are three basic types of commercial water boilers.
Fire-Tube Boilers
Fire-tube steam boilers are cylindrical vessels that hold water that surrounds a set of tubes conducting hot gases produced by a furnace. Consequently, the heat in the tubes transfers to the water surrounding them, producing steam.
Water Tube Boilers
Water-tube boilers have a furnace that burns gas or another type of fuel whose combustion heats water-containing tubes. As a result, the tubes produce steam by transferring the heat received to the water circulating inside them.
Electric Boilers
Electric boilers are simpler because there is no gas combustion involved in the heating process because they use electricity to heat water. Specifically, electric heating elements heat a sealed tube containing water. This type of boiler is the right solution for areas where electricity is not expensive. Nevertheless, it is the least popular one as it usually costs the most to operate.
Condensation of Exhaust Gases
Condensing Boilers
Condensing boilers run at low temperatures, less than 130 degrees. Flue gas condensation occurs because the flue/exhaust gas cools to the point where it can no longer maintain saturation. These units can achieve an exceptionally high level of thermal efficiency of up to 98%.
Non-condensing Boilers
Non-condensing boilers run at above 130 degrees, and even though they will most likely present a low upfront cost to be acquired, operating costs can influence savings in the long run.
Efficiency
High-efficiency boilers can recover the extra heat, also called latent heat. Consequently, that process makes these boilers more efficient to run. High-efficiency boilers lose only about 10% of the heat produced from the fuel gas via the tubes.
Standard efficiency boilers lose about 20% of the heat produced from the fuel gas via the tubes.
Maintenance
Proper maintenance is a financial benefit, as well as a safety requirement. Lack of maintenance can be dangerous. Repairing a boiler requires looking for the source of the problem instead of just an easy fix.
If your boiler is more than 15 years old, you should seriously consider buying a new one. Trying to retrofit a boiler is expensive and inefficient, and it is not worth the risk.
Conclusion
Water commercial boilers are designed for space heating purposes. Among the different types of boilers, commercial boilers are some of the most diverse. They are of three types, Fire-tube, Water-tube, or Electric.
These units can use propane, natural gas, non-fueled electric only, or light oil to provide hot water or steam for process requirements or comfort heating. If you want assistance to choose the right commercial water boiler, ask here.
Sources: CCPIA