What is more efficient Vertical or Horizontal burners??

[John-Clean County PW]

Here's a point Jim brought up in another post. I gave my thoughts on it but Better to hear it from the experts. What do you guys think???

I have always "assumed" the horizontal burners would be more energy efficient. Your thoughts ?

Great question Jim. I'll start a thread on that to see what Paul K. & some of the other guys think is more effecient. The only guess that I can make cause I really don't know is that maybe Vertical Burners are more efficient because Heat rises. I never seen a house burner thats Horizontal but like I said I'm only guessing. The reason why I bought that Vertical Burner was because of space issues and that to could be the reason why most house burners are are mostly Vertical. Good question.

[Paul Kassander]

I have always been told by manufactures the vertical burners are more efficient primarily because ot heat rise. However design can play a big role in efficiency as well. Coil length, design and insulation play a major role in heat rise given a certain amount of raw BTU to work with.

A good example is the Largo vertical heaters have a dual pass coil design that allow for more surface area of the coil to come in contact with the heat for greater efficiency. Similarly the European downdraft coils will have a good efficiency with their design. Realistically when it is all said and done you probably will not notice much difference between vertical or horizontal in your bill if you stick with the same manufacture. What it really comes down to is a personal preference.

[crfguy168]

The vertical burner seems to get hot alot faster than my horizontal...And in my opinion it gets hotter all together..

[Innovativewash]

Yah, I agree vertical seems to get hoter quicker. It also last longer, no rain gets down the heater to rust it out.