Best Of

The idea that a salesmen pushes Uponor because it costs more doesn't really track. We sell many brands of pex, Uponor is our lowest margin product in that category and it is not even close, we make more money selling a roll of the cheap stuff, than we do an equal roll of the more expensive Uponor.

There are other factors why so many are stuck on a brand of pex. Around here the Uponor people worked hard to win contractor support. They provided training when nobody else wanted in on the market, they provided design support before the days where design software was readily available. They provided some of the earliest design software for free, they have a full product catalog offering and not just 3 popular sizes.

I am not knocking any other brand, as I said I sell many brands of pex, just trying to point out that product cost is only one factor, and does not always equal higher commission for the sales person

Viessmann, Lochinvar, Triangle Tube.

I am partial to Viessmann, we are able to get parts for their first model mod/cons that they introduced to the US. Control boards are expensive after the model is out of production. They have the best heat exchanger, and heat exchanger warranty on the market

Loads of contractors prefer Lochinvar for various reasons, the wholesaler they buy from stocks them, or they are able to go to training events etc. I am not sure on parts availability for them but I imagine they must do an OK job or there would be many more complaints

Triangle Tube is still a good brand, they had a bad reputation a few years ago, due mainly to one of their vendors pawning off the stainless steel welding on a company that never welded stainless before. Those problems only existed for a few months but plagued the brand for years. They are a good boiler, I can still get parts for their first models of mod/cons, parts are a very reasonable price. They also offer the best in market parts warranty if your dealer registers the install and sends in a combustion analysis and pic of the install.


Those are the 3 I would trust the most, I would have any in my house, I currently have a Viessmann because I have a great relationship with them and stock parts for them. In a perfect world you would purchase a brand that has good local support, with a wholesaler that has stocked them for a good amount of time, and a contractor that regularly deals with that brand. I would argue the installer, and parts/warranty support are more important than the brand. Equally important, no matter the brand, is maintenance. I don't like bad mouthing other brands but I would steer clear of Navien

My take is that there are relatively few true Pro's. Having a van with your name on it and collecting money for your services does not make you a professional. Being licensed doesn't seem to mean much either, at least in my area. My focus has been on hydronic heating and cooling for the last three decades or so and I feel that we are sorely lacking in training and education or maybe requirements for training and education. From my experience, the vast majority of the people that are out there working on hydronic systems do not understand the core relationships of flow to load, differential to transfer, pipe size to flow and load, circulator sizing, friction loss, etc. I was on a job yesterday where over the last six years, numerous contractors had looked at a six ton heat pump that constantly under performs. It is piped off of the 3" mains in 1", fifty feet each way plus fittings The control valve has a Cv of 7.4 and the unit has a pressure drop of 6.8 feet. When all eleven heat pumps in the building are calling the system pumps produce 81 gpm at 24 ft/hd. The six ton unit needs 18gpm at nearly 40 ft. Two options, reduce the pressure drop or buy bigger pumps. The estate manager didn't believe me so I broke out my trusty System Syzer and gave him a quick lesson in hydronics. We will be repiping the unit in October.