Ideal give you the choice of a stainless-steel heat exchanger through their Vogue Max ranges and an aluminium heat exchanger through their Logic Max ranges.
The benefits of stainless steel are widely known in the domestic boiler market, however not everyone is aware of the benefits of aluminium.
Aluminium heat exchangers have been used since the 1970s in Europe. At Ideal Boilers they’ve used Aluminium heat exchangers for over 30 years with the first model using an aluminium condensing heat exchanger being the Ideal Turbo launched in 1986. Today the award-winning Logic, Logic+ and Logic Max range utilise an Aluminium heat exchanger.
Thermal Conductivity.
Aluminium has a very high thermal conductivity (237W/m²/K). Thermal conductivity is a material's ability to transfer heat. In the case of a boiler the heat from the combustion gasses to the system water. Because of this high thermal conductivity, Ideal can design a heat exchanger that needs less surface area. This allows them to produce more compact, lightweight boiler designs.
Giving new life to old systems
Aluminium designs are more tolerant to variable system quality (e.g. flow rate settings, air and dirt) as it allows for bigger waterways. This means that its well suited for a boiler replacement on an old system. The aluminium heat exchanger developed by Ideal boilers will allow for a wider range of temperature differentials, typically 11°C – 20°C, meaning that the aluminium heat exchanger is perfect for older systems that are unable to reach a 20°C differential without making system modifications.
Noise, what noise?
Because the waterways in aluminium heat exchangers are much larger, the water velocity can be reduced, not only does this reduce hydraulic resistance through the heat exchanger it reduces noise created by water flow rates. In fact, the Logic+ and Logic Max ranges have both been awarded the Quiet Mark award for such low noise levels.
Corrosion Resistance
On contact with water or oxygen, a non-porous protective layer of aluminium oxide is formed naturally: this is alumina, or the passivation layer. This chemical reaction contributes to the heat exchangers in the Ideal Logic, Logic+ and Logic Max boilers being highly resistant to the corrosion effects of condensate during operation.