U.S. Boiler

When people think of Alaska, they think of cold weather, vast expanses of wilderness and small communities. While they’re correct about the wilderness and weather, there are a few communities in the state that can’t possibly be called “small.”

Anchorage is home to almost 300,000 people, or roughly the size of Cincinnati, Newark or Pittsburgh. But unlike its Lower-48 counterparts, the city stands apart with its weather.

While not the coldest region in Alaska, Anchorage typically experiences between 7,000 to 8,000 heating degree days per year. Cincinnati, for comparison, averages 3,000 to 3,500 heating degree days.

“We install about four boilers per week,” said Thomas Jurancich, plumbing manager at Extreme Heating & Air. The 40-person mechanical company is the largest contractor in the Anchorage area, and likely in the state.

The biggest little state

Like all big cities, Anchorage has its bedroom communities, such as Eagle River.

When Shane Thom founded Extreme Heating & Air in Eagle River in 2009, it was after serving a four-year Air Force enlistment, where he learned the HVAC trade.

“I was in the civil engineering department and left the service as a Senior Airman,” said Thom. “Our primary task was setting up temporary cities, whether in Okinawa, Japan, Texas or Alaska.”

When Shane hung his shingle in 2009, Extreme was strictly focused on HVAC installations. Two years later, he added a plumbing department, and in 2013, he opened the company’s service department, along with their supply house and retail store. They serve all sorts of customers within a 300-mile radius.”

Alaska’s remoteness (from supply chains), vast coverage areas, and the extreme cold temperatures (often dipping below -30°F), are the greatest challenges. Boilers are quite popular, thanks to the severe winter conditions.

Custom residential

“Our plumbing division is the largest segment of the company,” said Thomas Jurancich, plumbing manager. “Boiler work is big business here, both residential and commercial.”

Extreme has great relationships with most of the custom homebuilders in the Anchorage area. One of those, Michelsohn & Daughter, is the source of half a dozen hydronic projects each year. These homes are typically $1 million or more.

“New homes in Alaska with a seven-figure budget typically feature in-floor heat, and maybe snowmelt, too,” said Jurancich. “Both were included in our most recent Michelsohn project.”

The 4,7000-sq.-ft. home includes an art studio and three bay-garage, one of which is large enough to park the family’s RV. In-floor heat is used throughout, and the front walkway accounts for one small zone of snowmelt.

“All told, we have 11 zones here, including the snowmelt and 85-gallon indirect water heater, which is needed for multi-head showers and a giant freestanding tub,” said Jurancich. “We added a Rheem air handler for AC and to circulate environmental air through a Lifebreath HRV, but the only source of heat is the boiler.”

A 180-MBH Alta condensing boiler, made by U.S. Boiler Company, is used to supply all heat to the home and DHW.

“We’ve been installing the Alta since Nate Uson, territory manager at Ridgeline Mechanical Sales introduced it to us,” said Jurancich. “We probably have 200 of them in the field, almost all of which are 180 MBH. New product releases are always a little worrisome with our winters, but the Alta has been exceptional.

Jurancich is quick to admit that the gas-adaptive technology and the rate-based reset features of the Alta—both new to the hydronic industry in North America—felt “too easy.” It took a few installations before the Extreme technicians felt comfortable trusting the technology, but there’s never a second thought anymore.

Hot water is distributed to remote manifolds throughout the house. The radiant zones require 80°F at outdoor design temperature, and the snowmelt zone, isolated by a heat exchanger, calls for 110°F water. Chad Moore, lead boiler installer, and Joe Potter, apprentice, built the entire boiler room in three days.

“The homeowner loves the system,” said Jurancich. “He told me he takes guests into the mechanical room to show it off. I can’t think of a better endorsement of our work!”

Supply chain: end of the road

Jurancich was an outside sales rep for Ferguson before joining Extreme in 2017. This put him in frequent contact with Uson and others at Ridgeline, and that relationship has served them both well for years.

“Shane and Thomas have been great customers, and we’ve done our very best to support them, especially through the pandemic,” said Uson. “Contractors in the Lower-48 had supply chain issues, but not as bad as those in Alaska. We’re at the end of the proverbial road. Extreme has never been one to complain about price. Availability is the key concern here.”

Ridgeline helped ensure that Extreme had boilers to install throughout the supply chain crunches of the past few years. Other times, Extreme reaped the benefits of their own deep warehouse. In 2016, Extreme opened their own supply house and retail store.

“We’re halfway between Anchorage and the Matanuska-Susitna Valley,” explained Thom. “Alaska is different from other states in that people here are very independent, and there’s a long way to go between supply houses. Some of our competitors buy product from us. So do plenty of DIYers.”

With good manufacturer’s reps, a fleet of roadworthy vans and a stout supply of plumbing and heating products in-house, Extreme keeps a lot of Alaskans warm throughout the winter. And none so much as in their own little town of Eagle River.

Not all residential new construction

In the 1950s, back before the roads in Eagle River were paved, activity in town revolved around the grocery/general store. That building still stands, though it’s been expanded and modified an untold number of times. It’s now a strip mall, housing a tax preparation office, dry cleaner, and more, having been converted to the Eagle River Shopping Center in the 1990s.

Extreme Heating & Air has serviced the facility’s central hydronic system for almost a decade. Doing so has always been a challenge. Its two condensing boilers were a constant source of headache, requiring nearly $10,000 worth of parts over the years. Because the building had been remodeled, changed and retrofitted so many times, zoning was less than straightforward.

In May of 2023, the shopping center’s owner decided to fix the problems for good. Extreme was hired to gut the mechanical room and replace it with a properly sized, newly piped system.

Extreme installed two U.S. Boiler Company Alpine 399 MBH modulating boilers in lead-lag operation. The entire building uses 15 zones of fin-tube baseboard radiation and a 119-gallon indirect tank supplies hot water to each retail space.

“We’re fairly young guys, so we’re always looking for the newest technology to try,” said Jurancich. “Last year, Nate showed us the USB-Connect Bluetooth smartphone app, and the shopping center was the first job we tried it on. We connected the Alpine to the adaptor with a Cat 5 cable and adjusted the flow rates and supply temperatures on my phone. The guys love it for the Alpine and the Alta, so our service manager, Jacob Way, ordered eight more.”

Over the course of three days, four Extreme technicians straightened out the piping issues and replaced the entire mechanical system. The main challenge was that the boiler room was tucked in the back of the building, separate from the retail spaces. After a full season in operation, Extreme has only received good feedback.

“They love the system because it finally works as intended,” said Jurancich.

Steady growth despite challenges

Extreme Heating & Air is growing, keeping pace with the city.

“Our biggest challenges are procuring material and manpower,” said Thom. “We’ve largely resolved our material inventory by dealing with good reps and owning our own warehouse. The manpower struggle isn’t unique to Alaska, by any means, but we’re taking that challenge head-on, too.”

The company recruits in cold climates in the Lower 48, hoping to draw young adventure-seekers to Alaska. There are great opportunities for those looking to relocate.

“We’re booked out for more than a month.” said Jurancich. “Next week we have five combi boilers going into a 5-plex apartment downtown. It’s a good problem to have. Much better than the opposite.”

Yes! (If the boiler does it for you)

Of all the commodities available to us, time is the most precious. As humans have done for eons, we all trade in the commodity of time. Successful contractors regularly step back to assess whether they are getting the most out of the hours they’ve bartered.

This is where the team at U.S. Boiler Company was determined to add value with the high efficiency Alta boiler. Innovation at U.S. Boiler goes beyond durability and performance to saving your most precious resource: a skilled tradesperson’s time.

What are the most time-consuming and painful steps of installing or servicing a boiler?  The Alta boiler addresses several steps near the top of your list, but it doesn’t just make them easier. You can skip them. Let’s start with combustion setup.

First, we can all agree that combustion setup takes time, and that improper setup can lead to big problems. What are the biggest challenges with combustion set up?

Ambient Temperature

If you have a passion for all things measured in horsepower, you know that your car, boat, motorcycle, etc. runs best on cool fall nights. This is because the cooler air is denser. That is, it contains more oxygen per cubic foot.  The more oxygen in the cylinder, the more power generated.

With boilers, we face a similar dynamic. Most of us perform preventative maintenance during the summer months. At this time of year, air temps can range from 50°F to 100°F or more, depending on your location.

Once winter rolls around and the outdoor temps drop, those combustion targets we worked so hard to achieve go right out the window. The dense air will skew your combustion to the leaner side of the spectrum (not enough fuel for the oxygen present) because your calibration was conducted when the ambient temperature was higher.

The problem gets worse if the combustion check was skipped altogether. If the boiler is already too lean, you might be required to pay a free visit to the site during the colder months and encounter the homeowner sporting what is colloquially known in the industry as “lemon face” due to a no heat call.

Well … It’s Complicated

Technicians face the daunting task of working on a wide variety of equipment and trying to keep pace with industry advancements. When setting the combustion on most high efficiency boilers, proper setup requires tuning at both high and low fire. This means knowing which screw to adjust, how to lock the boiler in high and low fire, and hoping the system has enough capacity to dissipate the heat generated during testing to keep the boiler running. That’s a lot to expect of a seasoned tech, much less some of the newer faces joining our industry.

What Analyzer?

Like fishing, combustion testing is frequently accompanied by “far away eyes and bold-faced lies.” I’m constantly amazed by the number of technicians who share the following comments with such a level of innocence, sincerity and/or ignorance that I’m not always sure how to respond.

• “We don’t have an analyzer. Never have! Boss says we don’t need one.”
• “We don’t have an analyzer. Boss keeps it in the office…”
• “We have an analyzer, but the last time it was calibrated was during the Nixon administration…”
• “We have an analyzer, but it doesn’t work. Ever since we left it in the truck last winter the numbers are all wonky.”
• “We have an analyzer, but I’m not trained on it.”

These are just a small sample of the excuses I’ve heard. There are many, many more, some of which deserve an A+ for creativity. Long story short, there’s cause for concern on whether the boiler was set up correctly, if at all. Which brings us to the Alta.

Alta Does It for You

The gas train in the Alta boiler utilizes an adaptive combustion system. Unlike a simple pneumatic gas train, gas adaptive technology uses the flame signal to constantly tune combustion. What does this mean to homeowners, contractors, and technicians?

Everyone is familiar with the K.I.S.S. concept. We use it in a slightly different manner for the Alta. Keep It Sweet and Simple!

Sweet—Alta’s adaptive system constantly tunes burner combustion, keeping the boiler consistently in the sweet spot, maintaining the cleanest heat exchanger possible while achieving optimal efficiency.

Simple—Because the Alta adaptive combustion system uses basic components and a time-tested method of monitoring, the Alta solution is elegant and ingenious, without being complex. No more worries about changing combustion air temperatures or watching over techs as they adjust combustion.

Alta does the heavy lifting for you by tuning itself to site conditions. The boiler runs its own combustion setup, so you don’t have to.

Technology should not replace knowledge of hydronic systems, but it should make your life easier. You should own and be competent in the use of a combustion analyzer so you can be sure there are no installer-induced failures like reversed low profile termination fittings (it’s happened) or wads of insulation that inadvertently get lodged in the combustion air piping (yep, this happened too!), or cross contamination at the vent termination (the list goes on).

Adaptive combustion delivers faster installations and fewer callbacks on combustion issues. That’s how you do more with the time you have. So go ahead, skip combustion setup with Alta.

Tom Secondino is a Technical Sales Support Specialist for U.S. Boiler Company, a manufacturer of residential and commercial heating products, including condensing, non-condensing and electric boilers.  For more information on the Alta boiler, visit our Alta Product Page

Hunting is a lot like many outdoor pursuits in that you can’t control the weather.  Hunting guides and outfitters also know that you can’t control the animals, so they control what variables they can: the food and the lodging.

Fred and Michele Eichler operate Fulldraw Outfitters in southern Colorado where they host hunters looking to harvest elk, deer, bear, antelope and turkey in fair-chase pursuit.

Fred, arguably one of the greatest bow hunters alive today, became the first person to harvest all 29 North American big game species with a recurve bow, completing his Super Slam.  Michele, who’s also been a bow hunter since childhood, was CEO of Muzzy Products, an archery brand that all bow hunters in the country are familiar with.

The hunting on the properties where the Eichlers outfit is exceptional, and the accommodations have always been very good, but in early 2020 the family made a decision to raise the stakes.  They wanted to build a new lodge to host guests, with all the amenities that a professional hunting outfit might need – 11 bedrooms, a walk-in cooler for game, vaulted ceilings for hanging trophies, entertainment space and a giant kitchen complete with two expansive hardwood islands.

Michele designed the lodge with comfort and environmental sustainability in mind.  The dream materialized over the course of two years.  After ordering the steel frame building, the Eichlers called Steve Fernandez, owner of Twin Peaks Plumbing & Hydronics, in Trinidad, CO.  Fernandez is also a very successful big game hunting guide and has known the Eichlers for decades.

“Steve was one of the first people we called,” said Michele.  “He quickly suggested using spray foam to insulate the whole building, and to install an in-floor heating system.  We hired him for both the plumbing and heating work.”

Twin Peaks, a six-person company, has a fantastic reputation in the Spanish Peaks area of Colorado.  Steve’s son, Ty, is the fourth generation plumber in the family.

Simple radiant, outstanding comfort

Trinidad might be close to the New Mexico border, but its elevation of 6,000 feet above sea level means that the region sees serious winter conditions.  Temperatures can plunge as low as -20°F.

The 6,000 square foot building – not including the offices, gym and storage space on the second story – is divided into six zones.  The entire space is heated from below with half-inch MrPEX oxygen barrier tubing, with the exception of the 225 square foot walk-in cooler.  This portion of the slab is isolated from the rest of the polished concrete slab with the same two-inch rigid foam used beneath the pour.

Heat is provided by a propane-fired, 96 percent efficient Aspen condensing boiler, made by U.S. Boiler Company.  Fernandez prefers the firetube Aspen over other modulating boilers because it’s easy to program and even easier to service.

“We have 30 or more Aspen boilers in the field, all of them at high altitude,” said Fernandez.  “Their design is so intuitive that my apprentices have caught onto them very quickly.”

Most of the 20 loops in the slab enter the main mechanical room, but Twin Peaks placed two, three-quarter-inch remote manifolds at either end of the 100-foot-long long building.  Each zone is circulated by a Taco 007e ECM pump.  With outdoor reset and a maximum supply temperature set at 130°F, the system provides a 12°F Delta-T.

“Our loops here are all between 280 and 290 feet long, so there was no need to use balancing manifolds,” said Fernandez.  “The ports on balancing manifolds severely raise head pressure by constricting flow, especially with a high glycol mixture.  We isolate all our loops with ball valves to help purge the system.  That said, there are times I feel balancing manifolds are necessary, especially when we didn’t install the tubing and we have no idea what’s under the slab.”

Before firing the system, Fernandez injected the radiant system with Fernox F1 Protector.  This helps guard system components against the low pH water and high hardness common to Colorado and other parts of the Southwest.  To provide burst protection down to -20°F, Twin peaks used Fernox Alphi-11 antifreeze.

The system, which covers two diamond-plate aluminum walls, also incorporates Taco’s Near Boiler Trim Kit.  This includes air separation, an expansion tank, combination backflow preventer and boiler feed valve, and the brass fittings needed to assemble the components.

Conserving water, ensuring supply

Fernandez installed the largest of the wall-hung Aspens available, 270 MBH, mainly to handle the massive DHW load.  The Aspen is also available in 320 and 399 MBH floor-mounted light commercial sizes, but with the 75-gallon indirect fired water heater installed at Eichler’s, the extra boiler capacity wasn’t needed.

The home’s domestic hot water load is comprised of five bathrooms, a large laundry, kitchen, commercial pot filler and wash-down hoses in the game processing area.

“The amount of laundry my boys create is unbelievable,” said Michele.  “When the lodge is full, hunters all come back at roughly the same time, expecting hot showers, a meal, and likely game to process.  I told Steve that I never wanted to run out of hot water.”

The floorplan made the use of a domestic hot water circulation system an easy decision.  Twin Peaks installed a three-quarter-inch recirculation line, with a stainless steel Taco 006e3 circulator set on medium, plugged into a SmartPlug instant hot water control.  Using a temperature sensor that mounts to the hot water supply pipe, the control monitors water use patterns in the home and runs accordingly; no programming, timers or aquastat required.

The large indirect water heater, set to priority, is maintained at 170°F.  Water is then mixed down to 135°F before entering the recirculation loop.

“We had 20 guests here at one point and never ran out of hot water,” said Michele.  “Hot water arrives immediately at any tap in the lodge.  There’s no fresh water being wasted.  It actually took a bit of getting used to, after years of waiting for hot water to arrive at a tap.”

Stewardship

The lodge was occupied in March of 2022 and the Eichlers hosted turkey hunters the next month.

“The heating system has been amazing,” said Michele.  “The floors are warm, everything is comfortable, and this building makes a big difference for our guests, Fred, the boys and myself.  We have the space to be organized, entertain, and be the best hosts we can.”

From an energy and water conservation perspective, the new lodge demonstrates Fulldraw Outfitters’ environmental responsibility.

“Few non-hunters know it, and anti-hunters won’t admit it, but the vast majority of conservation dollars in the United States are raised by hunters,” said Fernandez.  “Whether those funds are used for research to combat wildlife sicknesses like Chronic Wasting Disease, improve and protect wildlife habitat, or re-establish wildlife populations, such as we’re seeing with Bighorn Sheep today, the work is largely funded by, and depends on volunteer manpower of, American sportsmen and sportswomen.”

“As hunters, we’re more invested in the health of wildlife populations and preservation of the places they call home than anyone else,” he added.

By reducing their carbon footprint, selecting high-efficiency products and water-saving technologies, and using as many renewable building materials as was feasible, Fred and Michele Eichler have continued to demonstrate their commitment to conservation.

“Commercial Condos” are gaining popularity nationwide for small businesses in the service industry. These spaces, typically found in large post-frame buildings, offer a workshop atmosphere perfect for a company with a small fleet of vehicles that’s in need of garage bays, storage space and an office.

Property developers and managers have seen increased demand for medium-sized commercial space, and that constructing a large, simple building and dividing it into several smaller spaces has presented a new development option for bare commercial property when a town is already saturated with storage units. For professionals in a variety of trades, the buildings offer everything they need and nothing they don’t, and the spaces can often be rented, leased or purchased outright.

Late last year, Aune Plumbing & Heating was hired to install a hydronic heating system and a plumbing system at a commercial condo in Monticello, Minn. A refrigeration contractor bought the building as a well-insulated shell and required further build-out.

“This was a very simple project,” said Eric Aune, owner of Aune Plumbing & Heating, in Elk River, Minn., and co-owner of Mechanical-Hub.com. “It started like any other hydronic job, with a heat load calculation.”

The spray foam insulation, insulated slab and two walls that are shared with other conditioned spaces kept the heat load low, relative to the condo’s 4,000 square feet and 20-foot ceilings. There’s only one restroom and no full-time occupants.

Combi Is Key

Because the single shower, utility sinks and heated indoor hose bib are used only occasionally, it would have been a waste of space to install a tank-style water heater, especially considering that all mechanical components had to fit under a stairway.

“We suggested the use of a combi boiler,” said Aune. “A tank wasn’t necessary, and there simply wasn’t space for it in the mechanical room, meaning it would have been outside in the garage bays and susceptible to damage.”

The system Aune designed includes a single zone of Smith low-temp baseboard radiation paired with a 136 MBH Alta condensing combi boiler made by U.S. Boiler Company, the industry’s first and only 10:1 gas-adaptive combi boiler.

“The 50 feet of baseboard receives a maximum water temperature of 130°F on a design day with an outdoor temperature of -15°F,” said Aune. “When possible, I like to use low-temp baseboard with high-efficiency boilers because it keeps the boiler in condensing mode for as long as possible, similar to in-floor radiant, though not quite to that degree.”

Tight Fit

All mechanical components are contained in a closet under the staircase leading to a storage loft.  Even using a small, wall-hung boiler, Aune was cramped during the single-day boiler installation. The system includes a Taco 007e pump for the system and a Caleffi AngleMix thermostatic mixing valve on the domestic hot water side.

“The Alta fit nicely on one wall, but what really helped was the FastPipe premanufactured primary/secondary piping kit that U.S. Boiler Company includes with the boiler,” said Aune. “That reduced the amount of time I spent crammed in the closed.  It all installed very quickly.”

The high efficiency Alta line includes 136 and 200 MBH combi models, as well as heat-only boiler models of 120, 150 and 180 MBH capacities. Its best-in-class gas adaptive technology provides simplicity and rapid installation and optimal efficiency in all variety of outdoor conditions. This technology also provides “no touch” adaptive combustion setup, with no manual throttle or offset adjustments.

The boiler self-calibrates in response to component wear, variation in fuel, environment and vent air pressure. No additional parts are required to convert from natural gas to propane.

Shockingly Simple

“I had never installed an Alta Combi before, so a few things came as a surprise,” said Aune. “I’m very accustomed to installing an outdoor reset sensor, and this boiler doesn’t have one. Instead, the Alta features sensor-less reset, and the boiler modulates water temperature perfectly. I think the unit is running more often than not, which is exactly what a condensing boiler is intended to do. It just runs almost continuously on low-fire.”

The Alta’s sensor-less reset monitors home heat load rather than outdoor air temperature. It assesses home heat input (firing rate) patterns. Monitoring heat load allows boiler water temperature setpoint to be responsive to everything impacting home heat loss, including outdoor air temperature, wind, rain, clouds, home occupancy, and activities like cooking and showering. Once home heat loss is known, the boiler water temperature can be set in very much the same way that outdoor air reset adjusts setpoint.

“The touchless works perfectly, but after installing condensing boilers for years, it definitely felt odd firing this boiler and walking away,” said Aune. “I didn’t have to input any information, and the unit just works as intended. It’s that simple and straightforward.”

Maintaining Temperature

The customer maintains the building at 68°F, and every time Aune has checked, the farthest from setpoint he’s ever seen the temperature is half a degree.

“We also found that the Alta produces domestic hot water very quickly,” said Aune. “There’s never been a complaint about the speed of hot water delivery or hot water volume. I think the owner would literally have to run the shower, the hose bib, and all sinks simultaneously to see the water temperature begin to drop off.”

The boiler has only been running for a month, and an unseasonably warm month at that, but based on how much time the unit spends on low-fire, Aune is confident the owner isn’t going to have any issues with his gas bill.