Economizer
A heat exchanger placed in a boiler's flue gas path to recover part of their heat and preheat water, which raises overall efficiency.
What is an economizer?
An economizer is a heat exchanger placed in the flue gas path of a gas boiler. Its role is to capture part of the heat those flue gases would carry to the chimney and reuse it, most often to preheat the boiler’s feedwater or return water.
Why install an economizer?
By preheating the water before it enters the boiler, the economizer reduces the amount of gas needed to reach the operating temperature. It is a common efficiency measure on high-consumption installations, including some steam boilers, where the heat recovered from the flue gases represents a meaningful saving.
Economizer and condensation
A conventional economizer mainly recovers the sensible heat of the flue gases, while a condensing boiler goes further by also recovering the latent heat of the water vapour. Sizing an economizer and verifying its effect are handled by a professional, supported when needed by a combustion analysis, in line with the manufacturer’s instructions.