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I did a google search and came back with industrial products, but no residential prosucts.

I have a System 2000 boiler and hot water tank. When the furnace is firing, the temp of the exhaust through the flue is around 400 degrees.

That seems like a horrible waste of heat.

Same thing with the dryer. It throws heat right outdoors, which also seems like a waste. (not really concerned with humid air, as it is winter and I have to run a humidifier anyway).

Is there any "safe" method to do recover waste heat from a boiler?

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You should look into condensing boilers that do just that and capture a lot of heat that would normally fly out of the chimney. In fact they vent through a PVC pipe producing a lukewarm steam and have efficiency as high as 96%

So if your current boiler is close to the end of its usefull life, then upgrade might be a sensible investment.

However it's not a bad idea to evaluate your house as a whole. If its poorly insulated and drafty, then that should be addressed as well.

A lot of states and some energy companies offer free or very cheap home efficiency auditing and insulation programs.

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    Yeah - the boiler was purchased/installed new 2 years ago: energykinetics.com - so it's a good boiler, but I hate seeing that thermometer in the flue vent get up to 400 degrees - it breaks my cheap heart
    – Jason
    Commented Feb 1, 2012 at 19:02
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    I am by no means an expert on hvac, but after looking at the energy kinetics website I felt like I just watched a billy maze infomercial. Claims that afue rating is wrong seem fishy. So maybe their boiler is just not that efficient
    – Vitaliy
    Commented Feb 1, 2012 at 21:51
  • yeah, now that I'm reading that - it does seem odd. If we had known we ere going to put in a pellet stove, I would have kept the old boiler and put in a gas on demand hot water system, because the boiler is barely firing (only for hot water and the back bedrooms)
    – Jason
    Commented Feb 4, 2012 at 19:01

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