It's time to stop 'overpumping' our hydronic systems.
It's been practiced for years. A boiler with an AFUE rating of 86 percent is presented to a prospective customer as clearly superior to a competing boiler having an AFUE of 84 percent. Better yet, a condensing boiler with an ultra high efficiency of 95 percent makes a conventional “dry smoker” at 86 percent efficiency look like a real dog.
Now that the price of crude oil has coasted over $70/barrel, the word “efficiency” is on the minds of heating professionals as well as those seeking their services. Everyone understands that higher efficiency is better - although there's considerable disagreement on what the most efficient approach to space heating often is.