I'm looking for some guidance on replacing a Burnham Spacemaster direct vent gas boiler. We have hydronic baseboard heating and the options considered have been in the 90,000 to 100,000 BTU range.
The current boiler is in a very small closet (25 inches deep, 34 inches wide, 106 inches high) in our second floor condo in New England. It vents into an alley that is 55 inches wide with more units (and windows) on the other side and above. The alley has a dead end at the end closet to the vent, which means the current location is near a corner.
Our plumber was preparing to recommend a high-efficiency condensing boiler, but the manufacturer had concerns about wind causing air intake problems since it is located near a corner in an alley. I'm also worried that the visible plume will be visible from any window facing the alley in the winter and could be a nuisance for units above us and across from us. As a result, the manufacturer recommended rerouting the vent through the roof. However, that is not an ideal option since there is another unit above us.
Given those challenges, our plumber is currently looking for a conventional (e.g. non-condensing) direct vent boiler that could vent into the alley at the same location since this type of boiler has been fine venting there in the past. However, from my scan of potential options, it seems that none currently on the market will fit into the closet.
Any thoughts on next steps? Are there conventional direct vent options that would fit that I have not come across? Is there another way to tackle this problem? Or should we just move forward on a high-efficiency condensing boiler and vent through the roof?
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