Navien Boiler Review, Prices & Buying Guide

A complete Navien boiler buying guide and brand review, including Navien’s top models, AFUE ratings, features, model comparisons, warranty info, and more.

Modern boilers are reliable, efficient, and effective home heating systems that can keep your house comfortable and warm for many winters.

If you’re looking to install a new boiler or upgrade an older one, then this guide will tell you everything you need to know about Navien boilers to determine if one is right for your home, and which model might best suit your comfort and space needs.

This Navien boiler review will give you important information about the Navien brand and their boilers, including the models that are available, what AFUE ratings they offer, the different features you can get, what warranty terms the brand offers, and what price range you’re looking at if you want a new Navien boiler.

Also Read: The Best Boilers for Canadians

An Overview of the Navien Brand

Strong Points

Navien as a brand has a lot to offer Canadian consumers. Along with making reliable and durable boilers, they also focus on technologies that improve performance and make their boilers easy for homeowners to operate and adjust.

All of their boilers are condensing, meaning they’re more efficient than conventional boilers, so every one of their models has a good AFUE rating and ENERGY STAR® certification. Navien boilers are also compact and affordable, making them ideal for many homes and homeowners.

The brand also has a line of combi boilers that supply hot water for your home heating system and your domestic hot water needs. These units can save you money if you’re looking to upgrade two appliances at once because you can get a two-in-one combi boiler.

Room for Improvement

One of the great things about Navien boilers is that they are efficient, so they’re guaranteed to save you money month over month compared to an older boiler. However, their boilers aren’t the most efficient on the market, and they don’t offer a wide selection of boilers with different AFUE ratings.

If you go with a Navien boiler, then you’re getting a boiler that’s 95 percent efficient. While that’s good, it’s not the best, and it might not be enough for homeowners who are really concerned about fuel use and energy costs.  

The Bottom Line

Navien’s high-efficiency condensing and combi boilers have great value for the price. They’re efficient, affordable, and reliable, but they also have some great new technologies that make controlling your heating system and customizing your home comfort a breeze.

Plus, Navien products are compact, economical, and available in a wide range of sizes and outputs, so it’s pretty much guaranteed there’s a Navien model that will meet your needs.

Navien Average Boiler Price Range

$4500 – $7000+ including installation

It’s impossible to give an accurate estimate of the cost to install a new boiler because so many things play into the price. The cost of the boiler alone will vary based on factors like capacity, (which depends on the size of your home), how many zones there are, what special features the boiler has, the efficiency of the unit, and the type of boiler.

All Navien boilers are condensing—even the combi models—and these tend to be the most expensive boiler types because of their efficiency and size.

However, one of the biggest things that will influence the final price of your new boiler is installation, which can range between $1,700 and $3,700 or more. Installation costs can fluctuate based on:

• The make, model, and brand
• Boiler style (such as conventional versus combi)
• Size and capacity of the system
• Number of zones
• Your current heating infrastructure

You can save money on the cost of your boiler by looking for rebates, which are sometimes available from utility companies, local HVAC distributors, the government, and directly from the manufacturer.

Navien Boiler Options Reviewed

Condensing Boilers:  NFB Series and NHB Series

The NFB and NHB series are high-efficiency condensing boilers with AFUE ratings of 95 percent. Because they’re condensing boilers, they trap and recycle some of the heat that would be lost with a conventional boiler, thereby improving efficiency and heating performance.

These models are also equipped with Navien’s sophisticated burners, which have some of the highest turndown ratios in the industry. They are compact and designed to be easy-to-install, and this could mean lower initial setup costs.

The boilers in this series are compatible with NaviLink, a Wi-Fi enabled control that can give you access to your heating system from anywhere in the world.

Condensing Combi Boilers: NCB-E Series and NFC Series

It used to be that you had to choose between combi boilers and condensing boilers, but Navien was one of the first brands to offer the high-efficiency condensing combi boiler with their NCB-E and NFC Series models.

Not only can these boilers provide heat for your home and hot water for all your cooking, cleaning, and bathing needs, but they’re also more energy efficient because they recycle exhaust gases that traditional combi boilers might waste. 

The boilers in these series are high-quality and designed to last, and when paired with the NaviLink system, they can let you adjust settings for your heating and hot water systems remotely.

Comparison of Navien’s Top Models

In this section of our Navien review, we’ll compare their models and the key features of each one.

NHB Series

The NHB boiler is a wall-hung boiler that comes in four sizes. They all have an industry-leading turndown ratio of 15:1, so they can operate at a very low capacity to save fuel and money while still keeping your home at the perfect temperature. These models are designed for fast and easy installation, and are compatible with multi-zone systems. The NHB series boilers also come equipped with the NHB Integrated control, and can be paired with NaviLink for convenient Wi-Fi control over your heating system from anywhere in the world.

Boiler Stats

AFUE: 95 percent
Boiler type: Condensing
ENERGY STAR rated? Yes
Sizes available: 55,000, 80,000, 110,000, and 150,000 BTUs

What’s good: These are high-efficiency condensing boilers with the highest turndown ratio available, and they’re the only Navien models with the NHB Integrated control for advanced control over the system’s operation and performance.

NFB Series

Navien’s NFB boiler comes in two sizes, and they each have a patented stainless steel heat exchanger that eliminates stress points and increases longevity. The turndown ratio on these models (10:1) isn’t quite as good as with the NHB series boilers, but it’s still one of the highest available. These boilers also have an AFUE rating of 95 percent, and were awarded the Energy Star Most Efficient of 2018. You can have zones with the NFB boilers, and they’re equipped with an easy-to-use interface that allows for easy setup and control. If you get the separate NaviLink Wi-Fi remote control, you can manage your system settings from anywhere. These boilers are also compatible with the NaviClean magnetic boiler filter that can eliminate buildup, improve efficiency, reduce repairs, and increase the life of the system. 

Boiler Stats

AFUE: 95 percent
Boiler type: Condensing
ENERGY STAR rated? Yes
Sizes available: 175,000 and 199,900 BTUs

What’s good: These are condensing boilers with great efficiency stats and turndown ratios, a long-lasting heat exchanger, a user-friendly interface, and compatibility with Navien’s proprietary NaviLink technology and NaviClean filter.

NFC Series

The NFC boiler is one of Navien’s high-efficiency condensing combi boilers that can provide heat and on-demand hot water, all while operating more efficiently than a standard combi boiler. This boiler comes in two sizes that can be connected to up to three zones, so they’re both ideal for large homes. These boilers are equipped with Navien’s patented long-lasting heat exchanger, a domestic water module with a high flow rate, and they’ve been designed for quiet operation, meaning you can install them just about anywhere. Pair an NFC series boiler with the NaviLink system and get remote access from anywhere in the world, or use the user-friendly interface to adjust the settings. Finally, these boilers come standard with the NaviClean magnetic filtration system.  

Boiler Stats

AFUE: 95 percent
Boiler type: Condensing Combi
ENERGY STAR rated? Yes
Sizes available: 175,000 and 199,900 BTUs

What’s good: These condensing combi boilers are great for large homes, have an excellent 11:1 turndown ratio, and were awarded the ENERGY STAR Most Efficient for 2020.

NCB-E Series

This is Navien’s other condensing combi boiler option, and it’s available in four sizes. These boilers are ideal for larger homes, but they’re still space-saving and designed for quick and easy installation, and are compatible with multiple system styles, including baseboard radiators and radiant floor heating. To optimize performance and water flow rate, these combi boilers have dual heat exchangers: one for the boiler system and a separate one for the hot water. Like all Navien products, NCB-E boilers are designed to last, including being made with corrosion-resistant materials.

Boiler Stats

AFUE: 95 percent
Boiler type: Condensing Combi
ENERGY STAR rated? Yes
Sizes available (heating): 60,000, 80,000, 100,000, and 120,000 BTUs

What’s good: These are all-in-one boilers that give you home heating and domestic hot water with all the benefits of a condensing boiler, and with a turndown ratio of 6:1 and a cost-saving AFUE rating.

Navien Exclusive Features

Feature 1 – NHB Integrated Control

The NHB Integrated control is only available with Navien’s NHB series boilers, but it provides unparalleled control over your heating system. With the integrated control, you can adjust the heat capacity, the burner time setting, the turndown ratio, and much more.

Feature 2 – NaviLink

NaviLink is a Wi-Fi remote control system that can be paired with any Navien boiler to give you access to your heat and comfort settings from the comfort of your living room or when you’re on the go.

Feature 3 – NaviClean

NaviClean is a proprietary magnetic boiler filter that filters the water in your boiler system using the power of magnets. Boiler filters have many benefits, like improved efficiency, lower maintenance requirements, increased longevity, better flow rate, and fewer obstructions in the system.

Navien’s Boiler Warranty

A good boiler warranty is important for two main reasons: it can save you plenty of money on repair costs, and it can give you an indication of how reliable the system will be.

If a manufacturer only guarantees their product for a couple years, then it might be because they don’t expect it to perform optimally beyond that. By contrast, if a boiler or its major components are warrantied for several years, it’s because the manufacturer expects them to last at least that long.

Navien stands by all their products with a good warranty, but the specific terms change a little depending on the series:

NAVIEN: ABOUT THE COMPANY

Many names in HVAC have histories going back decades or longer, but Navien is a new kid on the block. They’ve been around as a stand-alone brand in North America since 2006, and their parent company has been in the business in Japan since 1978. From the beginning, Navien has focused on manufacturing quality boilers that are durable, dependable, well-engineered, energy-efficient, and space-saving.Want to learn more about Navien’s high-efficiency condensing boilers? Fill out our online form today and one of our representatives will get back to you with a free quote, no strings attached!