Navien Inc. launched three new products during a special virtual launch held on Feb. 16. “Normally we would get a chance to see most of you at the AHR or IBS or some other such event throughout the year,” said Eric Moffroid, vice president sales and marketing at Navien America. “But as you know, things continue to remain a little bit different this year so until that changes we're doing things a little bit differently ourselves today.” 

The three new products include the new NCB-H condensing combi-boiler, as well as upgrades to its NFC-H condensing fire tube combi-boiler and NFB-H condensing fire tube boiler.

Webcast viewers might have had a sense of deja vu since some of the new products were also featured at Navien’s booth at the 2020 AHR Expo.

“These products have been in development for a few years now,” said Kevin Pirotin, director of engineering and service. “But with everything that was happening last year, we felt the timing was just not right to launch almost an entirely new product lineup.”

John Confrey, vice president of product and marketing, however, added that the time was right at this point for the “what’s next” company to launch the lineup. 

“A lot of our competitors have noticed what we’ve been doing and they’ve been trying to overtake us for a number of years,” Confrey explained. “Some of them caught up on some specs so we decided that this was the right time to show that we’re still two steps ahead.”

Confrey added that despite the difficulties presented by the pandemic last year, Navien actually ended up reporting a good year.

“And we think this year is going to be even better once things start to get back to normal,” Confrey said. “We decided to launch all these new products in the first half of the year so we are ready once the economy starts to show growth again in the second half of the year.”

NCB-H condensing combi-boiler series

The new NCB-H condensing combi-boiler series brings higher operating capacities and performance for all-in-one home heating and DHW solutions.

The lineup offers higher turndown ratios, wider BTU ranges, longer venting for flexible installation and an all-new multiline LCD display with improved controls and intuitive navigation and an upgraded DHW module. 

Specifically, Navien’s new NCB-H condensing combi-boiler series includes five models ranging from 160,000 BTU/hour for DHW and 60,000 BTU/hour for heating, to an industry first 210,000 BTU/hour DHW and 150,000 BTU/hour heating.

The NCB-H also uses durable dual stainless steel heat exchangers for heating and a separate flat plate stainless steel heat exchanger for DHW.

Advanced features on the NCB-H include 15:1 turndown ratios for DHW and up to 11:1 turndown ratios for heating, advanced controls with intuitive display, built-in advanced DHW recirculation controls, 2-inch venting up to 65 feet and 3-inch venting up to 150 feet, common venting capability with up to seven NPE tankless water heaters, cascade capability with up to 15 NPE tankless water heaters, field gas convertibility to NG high altitude (5,400 feet to 10,100 feet) or LP (up to 10,000 feet) and a new DHW module with mixing valve and flow adjustment valve.

The front panel on NCB-H condensing combi-boiler series got more attention from Brian L. Fenske, director of commercial business.

“The front panel is not new to Navien, but it is new to the NCBH combi-boiler,” Fenske explained. “It's amazingly simple to navigate.”

One feature on the NCBH control is the Setup Wizard, which walks installers through the boiler settings and the installation checks when the unit is first turned on.

“This reduces the installation time,” Fenske added, “and also helps prevent missing anything that might be important on the installation.

Updates to NFC-H and NFB-H lines

Navien also revealed upgrades to its fire tube lines with the NFC-H fire tube combi-boilers and NFB-H fire tube boilers, including higher turndown ratios, wider BTU ranges and longer venting options.

Specifically, both the NFC-H and NFB-H now offer turndown ratios up to 15:1, 2-inch venting up to 65 feet and 3-inch venting up to 150 feet.

An advanced front panel features a backlit multi-line LCD display with intuitive navigation and command dial for quick easy access to the unit's features and controls as well as improved troubleshooting and diagnostics. An easy to use Navien Setup Wizard simplifies installation and unit configuration.

The NFC-H also includes increased DHW performance with up to 210,000 BTU/hour for DHW, offering up to 5.4 gpm at a 70-degree temperature rise.

For additional hot water demand, the NFC-H series can be cascaded with additional Navien NPE units. 

An improved domestic hot water module includes a new easy access three-way valve, mixing valve flow adjustment valve and innovative stainless steel flat plate heat exchanger just for DHW as well as built-in powered zone control for up to three zone pumps or three zone valve connections along with the corresponding thermostat connections making it sufficient for most applications without the need for the external zone control panels.

Also, an all-new vent installation detector or VID further improves safety and functionality the NFC series.

Approved for single and two-pipe venting applications, the NFC-H boilers can also be vented either horizontally or vertically and using different pressure zones.

The NFB-H fire-tube boilers feature an all-new igniter and flame rod with increased insulation diameter as well as a new condensate trap bracket for improved operation and increased durability. The NFB-H units offer easy access to internal components for planned maintenance and service.

All NFB-H models feature integrated hardware that makes it easier to connect a boiler pump, three zone pumps or three zone valves and all powered contacts and not just dry contact relays.

Piping work is made easy with available NFB-H manifold kits both primary and secondary loop manifold kits are designed to work on all NFB-H models for quick installations with common venting up to eight units and cascading up to 16 units. 

The Navien cascading system is able to provide a wide range of heating output. When a unit reaches a preset capacity, the controls will automatically add or subtract an additional unit to meet demand.

In this way, the cascading system provides the benefit of not just the turndown ratio of one boiler, but that of all the units added together. In other words, a four-unit cascade can provide a turndown ratio of up to 60:1. In addition, the Navien cascading system is designed to rotate the boilers for equal run hours, thus, extending the operating life of each unit.

A new venting installation detector on the exhaust collar adds to the line’s safety precautions. The NFB-H series is approved for single- and two-pipe venting applications, and the NFB-H boilers can also be vented either horizontally or vertically using different pressure zones.

“For a long time the perception of small wall-hung boilers we're just for that – small houses especially with the early combi units,” Fenske added. “But with the fire tube series design of boilers we really can satisfy the demand of these large homes and light commercial applications.”