A perfect boiler is not possible. Selecting important features that match your application is the best approach.  Some of the features are contradictory making it important that an experienced boiler person select the best features and best model for the job.  The risk is poor performance or an unhappy client.   Do not overlook the after sale support, Reimers electric boilers have been known for great customer service and repeat customers.  

1. High Pressure Vessel Mass.  Electric Steam Boilers Look at the pdf files for our Reimers boilers to see the weights and sizes. Our boilers are not light weight and short lived.  The mass of the boiler will be a good indication of the amount of metal used to manufacture the pressure vessel. Mass is related to thickness and thickness is related to durability. Inherently, low mass boilers will not last as long as high mass boilers.

2. High Water Volume.  Water under pressure will store steam. Higher water volume means higher stored steam. Applications where you have rapid swing loads will require a high water volume boiler design.

3. High Efficiency.  We all would like to have the most efficient boiler. Efficiency, however, is found in electric boilers.  The energy goe to the water.  Any fossil fuel fired boiler will have stack loss and that may be as much as 25% of the energy.

4. Quick Startup Times.  Simply put, you want steam in a reasonable time frame. Boilers that can make steam quickly likely will have low water and low mass, which may be non-desirable features. One must also realize a quick startup will facilitate a quicker cool down. The boilers on the market today typically require 5 to 20 minutes startup time.

5. Low Footprint.  Boiler room real estate is quite valuable these days and the less room a boiler occupies, the better. Vertical type boilers have an advantage in floor space demands, but they are limited somewhat by the height of the boiler. Therefore, they are not practical above a certain output. Be sure you take into consideration the amount of room required to perform maintenance on the boiler as part of the overall footprint.

6. Low Watt Density.  Spreading the wattage out reduces the stress in the elements and makes a longer life. 

7. Ease of Clean Out.  This is a measure of effectiveness of blow down and ability to keep the pressure vessel clean. Reimers Model RV Vertical boilers Electric Steam Boilers may have the advantage with this parameter because the pressure vessel orientation lends itself to easier clean out. Boilers with lots of small tubes or dead spots will not fair well in this category.

8. Effective Staging of Heat.  Reimers does a step-control feature that randomly turns off and on the heating elements to just maintain settings.  The steam pressure cycles within a tight window as loads are increased or decreased.  

9. Ease of Maintenance. Look for Reimers decades of field experience to have the best designs for operation and service.  There are access points and connections that facilitate proper attention.  

10. Large Steam Disengagement Area.  The more steam disengagement area, the better. Higher steam disengagement area produces higher steam quality, especially for low pressure steam applications. Consequently, horizontal boilers generally will produce higher steam quality than a vertical boiler of the same output.   Reimers offers both horizontal and vertical designs to let you decide which is priority.

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