I recently had an IBC SL-Series 199K BTU boiler installed for my indoor pool, so I'd like to share some insights.
The installation costed me CAD$18,000, which included the boiler, IBC Titanium Heat Exchanger, and an air handler to heat up the pool room. This equals to roughly USD$15,000
I don't know how much OP spent overall in 2016, but the materials are definitely not cheap in 2021.
Boiler was roughly USD$6000 and other components were roughtly $4000. The 2 installers spent a week installing everything.
The boiler is rated for 96% max efficiency, however it cannot be achieved in real life unless the return water is 70F. I set the target temperature to 120F with 110F return, and the efficiency is more like 90%.
This is still higher than a typical Raypak with 83%.
I have a pool water heat exchanger rated for 300K BTU but I feel it's not enough. Very often the boiler dials down to 100K BTU in order to ensure the output temperature does not exceeed 120F.
If you want a colder return AND a hotter output, i.e. higher efficiency, you'd want to have a 400K BTU or higher pool water Heat Exchanger with the 199K BTU boiler. The heat exchanger is probably rated for optimal operating circumstances, e.g. super fast pool pump, super short pool water line, super cold pool water. In real life 400K BTU heat exchanger is not an overkill for 199K BTU boiler.
The 160F loop described by OP will not have good efficiency, because the boiler stops condensing when the return is above 130F, and more than 20F delta is not good for the boiler.
With a 199K BTU boiler and 400K BTU pool water Heat Exchanger you can probably achieve 130F output and 110F return, which yields 90% efficiency.
So far the boiler and heat exchanger have been performing well. It's probably equivalent to a 215K BTU non-condensing pool heater. (Math: 199 * 90% / 83%)
The installation costed me CAD$18,000, which included the boiler, IBC Titanium Heat Exchanger, and an air handler to heat up the pool room. This equals to roughly USD$15,000
I don't know how much OP spent overall in 2016, but the materials are definitely not cheap in 2021.
Boiler was roughly USD$6000 and other components were roughtly $4000. The 2 installers spent a week installing everything.
The boiler is rated for 96% max efficiency, however it cannot be achieved in real life unless the return water is 70F. I set the target temperature to 120F with 110F return, and the efficiency is more like 90%.
This is still higher than a typical Raypak with 83%.
I have a pool water heat exchanger rated for 300K BTU but I feel it's not enough. Very often the boiler dials down to 100K BTU in order to ensure the output temperature does not exceeed 120F.
If you want a colder return AND a hotter output, i.e. higher efficiency, you'd want to have a 400K BTU or higher pool water Heat Exchanger with the 199K BTU boiler. The heat exchanger is probably rated for optimal operating circumstances, e.g. super fast pool pump, super short pool water line, super cold pool water. In real life 400K BTU heat exchanger is not an overkill for 199K BTU boiler.
The 160F loop described by OP will not have good efficiency, because the boiler stops condensing when the return is above 130F, and more than 20F delta is not good for the boiler.
With a 199K BTU boiler and 400K BTU pool water Heat Exchanger you can probably achieve 130F output and 110F return, which yields 90% efficiency.
So far the boiler and heat exchanger have been performing well. It's probably equivalent to a 215K BTU non-condensing pool heater. (Math: 199 * 90% / 83%)
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