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A good boiler misapplied or improperly installed can precipitate some serious performance problems.
Common installation mistakes occur when designers and installers fail to protect against low return water temperature to hot water boilers. This can occur in water source heat pump boiler installation, space hot water heating, pool water heaters, or domestic hot water. Low return water temperatures cause the combustion chamber to create moisture that can rain onto the burner assembly. This problem is regularly seen in many installations.
OUTWITTING MOISTURE
Natural gas as a fuel source contains a certain amount of moisture in its composition. This remains in the products of combustion as steam when combustion temperatures are high enough. Problems are that the cold water surface of the heat exchanger can be below the dewpoint of this water vapor. When this occurs, water condenses on the heat exchanger and drips. Manufacturers make specially constructed boilers to accommodate this condensation. They are called "condensing boilers." These boilers are not where we experience problems. It is the low-cost, atmospheric hot water boiler installed improperly or applied where condensation is not intended to be present by the boiler manufacturer.
Consider the commercial water source heat pump loop. This system...