The System 2000 Frontier: EK1 and EK2
You get heat and hot water from one unit that is built differently from the cast iron boiler it usually replaces. Energy Kinetics, which has made System 2000 in New Jersey for more than 40 years, sells two residential Frontier models:
- EK1: up to 1 gallon of oil per hour, or 150,000 BTU per hour, which Energy Kinetics rates as suited to most houses in cold climates. A stackable EK1 pairs with a 40-gallon hot water tank on top for a tight basement.
- EK2: up to 1.75 gallons per hour, or 250,000 BTU per hour, for large houses and light commercial jobs.
Both are chimney vented, run on oil, natural gas or propane, and are designed to be converted between fuels. For a house with no usable chimney, Energy Kinetics makes the Resolute and the Accel CS condensing boiler, which vent through a wall. Domino installs all of them and services every generation of System 2000 on Long Island.
A System 2000 Compared With a Cast Iron Boiler
- The pressure vessel is a welded steel spiral design rather than cast iron sections, so there are no section seals or push nipples to leak, and no cast iron pins to foul with soot.
- The Energy Manager control runs the burner only as long as the call for heat needs, then sends the heat left in the boiler to the hot water tank, so the boiler finishes each cycle cool instead of holding heat that is lost up the chimney.
- Hot water comes from a separate tank heated through a plate heat exchanger, not a tankless coil inside the boiler, which is why the showers do not run lukewarm as the house ages.
- It is quiet. Energy Kinetics rates the Frontier at about 47 decibels against roughly 62 for a typical boiler, which is the difference between a conversation and a television in the next room.
- It is non-condensing, so there is no condensate trap, neutralizer or drain, and the venting uses the existing chimney.
Energy Kinetics cites a Brookhaven National Laboratory study for its fuel savings claims; the figure that matters for your house comes from the estimate, where the technician compares the boiler you have with what a System 2000 would use.
Common System 2000 Problems and Their Causes
A System 2000 uses a standard Beckett, Riello or Carlin burner, so most repairs are the same as on any oil boiler, plus a few that are its own:
- No heat with the burner locked out: a worn nozzle, sooted cad cell or weak igniter, which is a burner parts repair.
- Heat but no hot water, or hot water but no heat: the Energy Manager is reporting a fault, usually a sensor, a zone relay or the tank circulator, and its on-board diagnostics point the technician to it.
- Hot water running short in a hard-water house: scale on the plate heat exchanger, which is cleaned or replaced; Energy Kinetics offers a scale stopper for houses with hard water.
- The burner door seal or chamber on an older unit worn from years of cleanings.
- Relief valve dripping: a waterlogged expansion tank, the same as on any boiler.
System 2000 Warranty
Energy Kinetics covers the residential pressure vessel with a lifetime limited warranty and a ten-year labor allowance, and that warranty can be transferred from the original owner to a new one. The Energy Manager control carries a five-year warranty and a lifetime protection plan with no registration required. The full terms are in the EK1 and EK2 Frontier warranty document on energykinetics.com, and the burner and circulators follow their own makers' terms.
System 2000 Boilers in Long Island Homes
The System 2000 suits a Long Island house that wants to keep its chimney and its oil tank today but may convert to gas later, since the same boiler changes fuel without being replaced. It also suits a house that has outgrown a tankless coil: the separate tank and plate exchanger give far more hot water than a coil in a cast iron boiler. The water heater installation page covers the alternatives for a house that keeps its existing boiler.
System 2000 Installation and Replacement
A new System 2000 starts with a free written estimate. The technician sizes the EK1 or EK2 to the house, checks the chimney and the piping, and plans the tank placement. The old boiler and, where it applies, the old water heater come out as part of the job, the new unit is piped, wired and fired, and the combustion is set with instruments. Financing is available through Wisetack, subject to its terms, and the boiler replacement page explains what decides the price.
System 2000 Repair and Annual Service
Repairs are $189 plus parts, priced before they go in, 24 hours a day with no contract. The yearly $219 tune-up replaces the nozzle, filter and strainer, cleans the spiral passages through the swing-down door, and sets the burner. Every price is on the pricing page.
Call for System 2000 Service
Call (631) 867-2231 any time for a repair, or request a free estimate for a new System 2000 anywhere in Suffolk County, Nassau County or Queens.
Source: Energy Kinetics, System 2000 Frontier product page and warranty, energykinetics.com.