Propane boiler replacement intel

[Collie]

Starting to educate myself on the best possible replacement for our 35+ year old propane boiler. 
Priorities are energy efficiency & price of unit. 
Looking for something at least 88% AFUE that is reliable & won't break the bank. 
I have some time (knocking on wood) to learn about our best options & get some first hand info from others that have replaced their boilers.
We have baseboard radiators & 3 zones.
Thanks in advance for the replies friendly neighbors!!
-c

[DonnaLeMert]

Collie....
I'm interested in learning what you find out. We are also researching options for our propane boiler system. We're looking at a duel fuel system, using solar or thermal solar as the secondary source. I'll be glad to share what we learn.

[sbertram]

I did mine about 8 years ago, it was very costly. I went with a triangle tube boiler by Prestige, great product, but complicated to install requiring circulating pumps as well as some additional equipment. The plumbing company made a mess of the install, it took forever and I doubt I saved much in the end when you factor in the shoddy service, pumps set incorrectly, being charged for return trips etc. 

Prestige does make a nice boiler.

[Collie]

Collie....
I'm interested in learning what you find out. We are also researching options for our propane boiler system. We're looking at a duel fuel system, using solar or thermal solar as the secondary source. I'll be glad to share what we learn.

Yes please. Let's keep updating this thread with what we learn.
Im interested in your solar plan. We don't get enough sun on our side of the canyon but still am super curious.

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I did mine about 8 years ago, it was very costly. I went with a triangle tube boiler by Prestige, great product, but complicated to install requiring circulating pumps as well as some additional equipment. The plumbing company made a mess of the install, it took forever and I doubt I saved much in the end when you factor in the shoddy service, pumps set incorrectly, being charged for return trips etc. 

Prestige does make a nice boiler.

I will be sure to ask what plumber you used before we pulled the trigger.

We have a home warranty that will offset the cost by $3k, but still guesstimating having to spend $8k out of pocket.

[RobertH]

Starting to educate myself on the best possible replacement for our 35+ year old propane boiler. 
Priorities are energy efficiency & price of unit. 
Looking for something at least 88% AFUE that is reliable & won't break the bank. 
I have some time (knocking on wood) to learn about our best options & get some first hand info from others that have replaced their boilers.
We have baseboard radiators & 3 zones.
Thanks in advance for the replies friendly neighbors!!
-c

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I've been delving into this sporadically, and question if boiler replacement is the best use of your hard-earned.

I watched a presentation given by a Julia Moravcsik, on Sept 4 2022. She is a …Colorado energy expert with 350 Colorado,
ts title:  "How to Green your Home and Save"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52v35KJcSxU

The graphic below shows the order in which you get the most "bang for the buck".  
I was surprised to learn that switching to solar/wind is at the end of the list,
probably because the other recommendations are easier to implement.

I learned from the presentation that new heat pump technology:
    > Is rated to 13 below zero - suitable for Colorado.
    > Can use small room exchangers running on pipes rather than ductwork.
       This tech minimizes disruption and cost compared to the previous method.
       A bonus: these function as coolers too.  Yeah, the summers are gonna get hotter.

Julia said that local heating firms aren't up to date on heat pumps.
She knows the local market, and her info is from Sept.  2022.

Is a $400 (rebatable) energy audit a better starting point?
BoCo has info on energy audit firms and folks (Sal knows a guy in Allenspark that does this).
The expensive audits involve pressurizing your house with a fan that goes over a door, and using FLIR 
cameras to find leaks.    

A word on rebates and timeliness: 
There are rebates available due to Bidens Energy Plan
If I read this correctly, these could be up to $14,000 for  capital retrofits, and $8,000 for projected energy savings.
These rebates won't always be in effect, but through the current presidency they should be.

Collie ... what the hell kind of name is Collie?
   

[m+j_matlin]

Collie,

We replaced our "old school" propane boiler with an NTI/ Trinity TI150 condensing boiler in 2010. At that time the cost was about $3K for the boiler, $1.5K for the misc pumps, pipe and other hardware, and about $1K for the installation labor. The labor cost was low, since I helped the plumber with this project. I would guess that the cost today would be significantly higher.

The NTI boilers seem to be relatively inexpensive, compared to other high efficiency (94%+ AFUE) boilers. The advantages of this unit is:

1) It is small, and could "drop in" to the space used by our old boiler
2) It has domestic hot water capability, eliminating our water heater (more space saving) and providing unlimited supply of hot water.
3) It vents directly to the outside, eliminating vent stack.
4) It is compatible with existing three zone hydronic system.
5) Saving on propane (of course).

The dis-advantages are as follows:

1) To get the high efficiency, the unit uses many sensors, a modulating gas valve, computer etc.  We have found that although the unit is still working great after 12+ years, we have had to replace lots of parts, mostly sensors and valves. If you are not too handy, this could be expensive. It is also possible, that these boilers have become more reliable over the years. When we purchased ours, this technology was relatively new.
2) The heat exchanger needs to be cleaned out periodically. Probably should be done every season, but we do this every couple of years. This is easy to do yourself, but would cost around $200 for this service, with a large plumbing company.

All in all, we would probably do this again, even though the new boiler was not as trouble free as the old one.

I would be happy to show you our installation, or discuss in further detail if interested.

Thanks,

- Mark

[Collie]

Thanks so much yall.

Mark- I may ping you when we get deeper into the project.
The hot water part about your set-up really perks my ears up.