John Siegenthaler, P.E.

Over the last several years, I’ve been reviewing submittals for proposed heating systems using pellet-fired boilers. The submittals come from heating professionals ranging from contractors to professional engineers. They’re required for a state incentive program that offers significant rebates to encourage growth of the biomass heating market.

Nearly all systems using cordwood gasification or pellet-fueled boilers perform best when the system includes a thermal storage tank. 

The measure of a heat pump’s heating performance is called coefficient of performance (COP). It’s the ratio of useful heat output divided by required energy input, where both the output and input are expressed in the same physical units.

Most of the modern hydronics technology used in North America for residential and light commercial buildings is for heating. 

One of the most fundamental principles used in all areas of science and engineering is the first law of thermodynamics. 

The heating output and coefficient of performance (COP) of any hydronic heat pump is very dependent on the water temperature leaving the heat pump’s condenser. 

Although the market for gas-fired boilers continues to track toward those that can modulate and operate with sustained flue gas condensation, conventional boilers (e.g., those not designed to operate with sustained flue gas condensation) still represent a significant portion of the market.