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The Differences Between a Condensing and a Non-condensing Wall Hung Boiler

With the costs of energy constantly on the rise and with no declines in sight in the future, more and more households and companies are looking into efficient alternatives when it comes to heating the water used in buildings. One of the best alternatives to traditional hot water heaters (also known as boilers) are wall-hung units.

Wall-hung boilers all have the advantage of using less space than traditional boilers, and they are also much more energy efficient than hot water tanks. This is largely due to their smaller size; a wall-hung unit will lose much less heat and use less energy to heat the water contained within it simply because there is less space in the boiler from which the heat can be lost. In fact, where a regular hot water tank may run at up to 60% efficiency in very good cases, a wall hung boiler may run at 75-90% efficiency!

The difference between the efficiency of the wall-hung boilers is dependent upon the type of wall unit in question. There are both condensing and non-condensing boilers available. For the average person, the main difference between the two is that it is the condensing boilers that offer the most savings in terms of money, due to more efficient use of energy (they are the model that will run at 90% efficiency and up, as compared to non-condensing models at around 75%).

The reason that condensing boilers are so much more efficient is that they trap water that has been heated to the evaporation point and turn the vapour back into liquid by cooling it. Condensing boilers are able to do this because they have a larger heat exchanger than other boilers (without that improvement, the boiler would explode. The idea is to have less vapour escaping up the flue).

Of course, the problem with anything that will save you money in terms of efficiency is that, generally speaking, it will cost more than traditional methods. This is another difference between the condensing and the non-condensing boilers – condensing models will be more expensive to purchase.

Of course, most proponents of condensing boilers will quickly point out that this model will save money over the long run; this may or may not work for your household, depending on the amount of hot water you consume.

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For more information on this article or a wall mounted boiler, visit WallhungBoilers.com.

Should an AC condensation line run directly into a sewer line?

My wife and I are under contract to buy a house. We just had the house inspected, and there is a smell of sewage in the basement. The condensate line is running directly into the sewer pipe, with no trap or pump system. The connection between the condesate line and the sewer line is leaking, and there is some sewage on the basement floor. The inspector mentioned a lot of things but I forgot to take notes on that.

Some municipalities prohibit condensate lines going into the sewer line with the simple reason being that if they didn't sell you the water, they shouldn't have to pay the cost of processing it at the plant.

Municipalities that do allow a condensate line to go into a sewer line require a sealed connection up to the point of a trap, and then an air gap before the line gets to the trap so that sewage doesn't backfeed into your AC condensate pan.

Here's a good writeup from New York about improperly terminated condensate lines.

for more information, you will need to contact your local water authority as some laws vary depending on where you live.

The Bose-Einstein Condensate
Editor's Note: The main text of this article, originally published in the March 1998 issue of Scientific American, is being made available in light of the recent nomination of one of the authors, Carl Wieman, as associate director for science in the Office of Science and Technology Policy. Both authors won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2001 for their discovery of the Bose-Einstein condensate ...

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