Multiple boilers

[kawman]

I am going to be installing a wood boiler in a new garage this spring and was wondering if I should pipe the supply side of it back intothe return side of my existing memco in the basement just fro more water capacity and if I ever need more btus it seems like I could fire up both? Does anyone have any suggestions?

 

[sparke]

I am not a heating tech. so my thoughts are totally speculation. I think it would be better to pipe them in parallel for this reason. If you are using both boilers at once, you would be sending water that has already been heated to 180* through the Memco, therefore I would expect the Memco to be idling almost all the time unless you are shooting for 200* water. I could see piping them in series if you were using the Memco as a type of buffer. If I remember correctly they hold 50 Gallons? Not much of a buffer but some is better then none? Anyway take my opinion lightly, hopefully someone more knowledgeable will pipe in.

 

[sparke]

I just caught something I wasn't thinking of in my first post. Is your Memco in the basement an oil boiler or a wood boiler? I was thinking wood but then I remembered Memco also made oil boilers. Ironically I had both in my house when I first bought it (separate units). If it is oil I would definitely pipe them in parallel. You will get some standby losses from the oil boiler and unfortunately some of that loss will not stay in the house but will go up the chimney as well.

 

[kawman]

It is a wood boiler and I guess I wondered if what you are saying might happen and it makes sense so maybe I will look into piping them in parallel or maytbe it doesnt make sense to hook the old memco into the system at all anymore Im nor sure.