What is an Indirect Water Heater?

An indirect water heater is essentially a storage tank with a heating coil built inside the tank. Hot water from a hydronic heating boiler is circulated through the heating coil within the storage tank. When the storage tank is filled with water, heat is transferred from the hot water flowing through the coil, resulting in hot water for bathing, cooking, and cleaning.

Why use an indirect water heater?

Indirect water heaters are an excellent choice because of their ability to produce an abundance of hot water, low operating costs, and the long life span of the equipment.

Abundance of hot water: Many indirect water heaters can provide over 150 gallons per hour of continuous hot water at 115 degrees. With that much hot water, everyone will be able to enjoy a hot shower, even in the largest of families.

Low Operating Cost: Utilizing an indirect water heater will actually improve the efficiency of your existing boiler! This is due to less “shut off time” for the boiler, which is when most of the heat previously generated can be lost. It is common to see operating costs 50% lower than electric hot water heaters.

Longevity of Equipment: Many indirect hot water heaters are made from high quality stainless steel and have fewer individual parts that are critical to the unit’s function. This means there are less parts on the indirect water heaters that are vulnerable or prone to failure.