I am going to replace my indirect fired oil water heater with a Marathon electric. The indirect oil seems very inefficient, despite what the guy at the store tells me. Does anyone have any thoughts or experiences with these heaters. I have read some great reviews, (here and elsewhere) regarding the Marathon heaters.
On another note, is it just m, or is indirect oil not very efficient? It seems as though the burner runs for some time, and comes on quite frequently. It is costing about $110 (CAD) per month for DHW, which seems terribly excessive. I can get a Marathon for $1229 (CAD). Does that seem like a afir price? Thanks.
On another note, is it just m, or is indirect oil not very efficient? It seems as though the burner runs for some time, and comes on quite frequently. It is costing about $110 (CAD) per month for DHW, which seems terribly excessive. I can get a Marathon for $1229 (CAD). Does that seem like a afir price? Thanks.
). Our hot water cost with electricity is ~$20/month using an off-peak electric rate (~$0.11/kWh). It is hard to believe that an oil heating system with all it's inefficiencies can compete with that. I did a calculation once and found that if you assumed something like 80% efficiency in burning oil to heat hot water, then oil at $2.75/gallon was more expensive than my electric rate to heat hot water. However, most people I have read on this forum achieve perhaps 50% efficiency in heating hot water with oil, and maybe worse. So oil just can't compete unless your electricity rates are ridiculously high.
