Crown Aruba 3 Hot Water Boiler Review

Richard

I'm considering purchasing a Crown Aruba 3 boiler model# AW1128. Your web page suggested that I e-mail you to get a technical review. I thought it was a great idea! I'm considering installing this Crown boiler along and possibly a crown indirect hot water tank along with it. I plan on downsizing in the next few years and the existing boiler is about 40 yrs old. HWT is about 17 yrs old. I get a very good price through a family member employee of the plumbers supply store. I live in Northern NY with cold winters and nice summers. One concern is using the boiler to heat hot water all summer seams excessive but I'm told its the way to go. Thank you for any help or advice you can give.

Thanks, John

Based on my review of the Crown 3 Aruba boiler I believe it is a good boiler that will give you many years of reliable heat if it is installed properly and it has regular boiler maintenance performed at least annually. Actually, any type of HVAC equipment that is not portable needs to be professionally installed and every piece of HVAC equipment whether it is portable or not needs at least annual maintenance. Many HVAC systems go without maintenance for long periods of time and this affects performance of the equipment and leads to premature failure of the equipment so you end up spending more money running the equipment and replacing it sooner if maintenance is not properly performed. Professional installation is equally important. A recent report in a major HVAC trade journal remarked that at least 50% of all HVAC equipment is improperly installed and it affects performance and longevity of the HVAC equipment.

Okay, enough ranting, here is the review for the Crown Aruba 3 hot water boiler. Crown has been in business for a long time specializing in manufacturing hot water boilers. Much of the Crown line-up includes cast iron boilers which have been proven over the years to be durable for hot water heating applications. It is important though that the boiler is installed properly because cast iron boilers can be susceptible to thermal shock if not set up properly. Read the warranty for the heat exchanger and I am certain Crown will only honor the warranty if it is installed by a professional. Features and benefits for the Crown 3 Aruba boiler are:

• Cast Iron heat exchanger - as noted above cast iron heat exchangers are proven and durable with many cast iron heat exchangers in boilers providing many years of comfortable service for many people


• Cast Iron Push Nipples - many cast iron boilers are sectional boilers and the sections are held together by various methods depending on the manufacturer. Crown uses cast iron push nipples to hold the sections together and this causes the nipples to expand and contract with the cast iron sections making it a leak free tight method for holding the sections together. A sectional boiler can often be disassembled and reassembled when the boiler needs to installed in area that is hard to get to like in basements with narrow steps or passageways. Cast Iron push nipples also resist corrosion


• The Crown Aruba 3 offers a built in draft hood to save on space. There are many boilers that have built in draft hood so this feature is not limited to the Crown 3 Aruba hot water boiler


• Stainless steel burners with a lifetime limited warranty - burners whether they are stainless steel or not need maintenance from time to time and I am certain this is a part of the lifetime warranty (I have not reviewed any of Crowns warranties for this review so I am only assuming because it is logical for a lifetime warranty to include some reference to regular maintenance


• Aquastat mounted directly into the heat exchanger - I don't believe this makes much of a difference. It is very important to read the proper temperatures of the heat exchanger whether it is mounted directly or indirectly to the heat exchanger so accuracy is more important than where it is mounted


• Reliable Honeywell controls - I believe many of Honeywells products are superior so this is a good feature


• The Crown Aruba 3 boiler jacket is powder coated and insulated for reduction of heat loss. This is all good for the owner of the Crown Aruba 3 hot water boiler


• High performance circulator - I don't know of any boiler manufacturer that would use a low performance circulator. No further description is offered for this feature but one of the most important parts of installing a boiler is to make sure the pump is sized properly. Improper pump sizing can cause problems with boiler efficiency and performance and lead to mechanical problems including boiler thermal shock


• Motorized vent damper prevents heat loss up the flue - this feature is highly recommended and Crown provides a vent damper with the Crown Aruba 3 hot water boiler


• Drain Valve - I don't believe I would buy a boiler that did not have a drain valve or a temperature pressure gauge


• The option of having electronic ignition or stading pilot

Now as for the indirect hooked up to your new Crown Aruba 3 I would go with something altogether different that will save more money and you can shut down your new Crown Aruba 3 boiler in the summer. If you have been a regular reader of High Performance HVAC you would know that I spent a year in Europe working on a large engineering project. During that time I rented a house that used a single tankless gas fired hot water heater for both heating the house and heating the hot water for showers and so on and so forth. I was skeptical about a tankless hot water heater at first but I was completely happy that when I took a shower I never ran out of hot water as will happen sometimes when you use the typical convention tank water heater. Where I was it got very cold in the winter but the tankless hot water heater never failed me with either heat or hot water for domestic use. My next new water heater will not be a tank water heater but it will be a tankless hot water heater. These hot water heaters are small so they take up less space and they never run out of hot water. They are also considered to be efficiency because you only use the amount of energy necessary to meet your current demand versus a tank hot water heater or even an indirect hot water heating system that will cycle on and off even when you don't need it. Tankless hot water heaters are the wave of the future. I was once very skeptical about them but now I am a believer because of my experience and comfort in Europe.  The prices are comparable to conventional hot water heaters but as with anything and any advice I give anyone it is important these appliances are professionally installed.