Hi all,
Newbie homeowner who fancies himself a DIYer here so I apologize if I'm over my skis here a bit. Some quick info on my home:
* 6 BR/4.5 BA (4 tubs - and my children and my wife tend to bath. 2 kids often bath at same time). House is in White Plains, New York (Westchester)
* Inherited big oil boiler and did a pretty big house reno 3 years ago. Left the boiler (stupidly though money was tightening) and converted big radiators to a 3-zone hydro-air system (2 air handlers, one in basement next to boiler and one in attic for 2nd and 3rd floor). Coils in each handler are rated at 70k btu's. We have a gas line in the house with enough capacity (250 CFH).
* I recently ran (actually did it) a new zone to a huge radiator that was in a large semi-finished basement room (I calc btu load at about 17-20k, call it 20k..).
* I plan on running radiant heating for the first floor in the basement joists (don't know how many feet of PEX yet).
* Also plan on running some runtal radiators in the family room that is often cold (has 13 windows that are ehhh - all other windows were replacement vinyl). Haven't solidifed these plans.
* Currently have an IDH (believe a Burnham stone lined) with the oil boiler.
* I have not done a heat loss calc. yet...
So to my question. What to do? Combi or mod con? I plan on keeping my IDH either way as I don't think the Combi could keep up with our peak water demand (nor do I want to chance it....). In my mind, the further question is does it make more sense to mod con with IDH or combi with IDH. And if someone thinks it makes sense to go combi, should the IDH be a water zone and the combi feeds the IDH directly with hot water, or a true boiler zone as it is currently setup. And then whichever we I go, I would love some suggestions on boiler sizing (in general for my situation and for possible future plans).
Sorry for the long post. Please let me know if there is any other info needed.
Thanks,
David
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