What's the best boiler???

Ron Schroeder

Personally I have had the most good experience with Buderus but another good boiler that hasn't been mentioned is the Biasi B-10. It is another good 3 pass design. The Energy Kinetics is also good.

Clueless in CT

What's the best boiler??

Please forgive my ignorance in advance. We were just told we need a new boiler (oil heat - forced hot water), ours has a crack. I have no clue where to begin to find out which are the best. The one that needs to be replaced is original to the house (40 years +) Well-McClain Cast Iron(guess I do know a little!) We've gotten some estimates. So far Burnham MPO? (87% efficiency) and Peerless brands have been recommended. Well McLain has not been recommended because they use neoprene on the inside or something??

Basically, we plan to be in this house for a LONG time! So can anyone recommend the best boiler brands, and what I should look for???? Or is there a site (i.e. consumer reports like) that i can look to for ratings an information?

Sorry this is so long, but as you can see, I'm at a total loss and would like to educate myself a bit.

Thanks for any help!!

Clueless in CT

Brad White_38

Plenty of Choices

Given you and the house will be keeping each other, this is a sound basis for longevity and efficiency. That you have hot water is a good start also; you have more options that way.

Highest efficiencies are found in condensing boilers. Those are predominantly gas with a few (very few) oil versions out. Monitor FCX is one that has been out about over five years maybe more and Peerless has another just out. Both require low-sulfur fuel or at least that is the long term thinking.

You will still do very well with any that you mentioned, even if not "condensing". Viessmann (best boiler made IMHO) and Buderus are excellent too. All brands have their supporters here on The Wall.

Question would be, who supports the best products in your area? With whom does your installer have a solid relationship and will stand behind the product, install it correctly and extract maximum efficiency for you?

And while you are at this, seek to increase all of your efficiency aspects: Insulate your walls and roof, seal cracks, upgrade windows, all that good stuff. Consider outdoor reset controls and near-boiler piping to take best advantage of lower radiator temperatures.

Stay tuned. You have come to the right place.

ajc

We have been finding in the last year a number of Weil-Mclain boilers in the twenty to twenty five year old range leaking from the rubber section gaskets. Only yesterday we changed a Weil EG 40 steamer that was leaking from the top gasket on one section. The gaskets are extemely brittle and deteriorated, but the castings are perfectly fine. Also this seems to be more prevelant with steam boilers (gas and oil).

Supply House Rick

And The Best Boiler Is...

The boiler that's installed by the absolute best contractor you can hire. It all starts there. Am I wrong?

A Viessman/Buderus/Prestige and so on and so on are junk if put in by the wrong person.

Right now someone somewhere has an appointment with the world's worst installer.

***All the Find A Contractor links, bells, whistles, features, benefits, Yellow Page ads, nice uniformed Tech with a shiny new lettered truck, the beautiful brochures, efficiency ratings and all the chatter on the Wall are meaningless if not installed properly*** And as always insist on a CO test.

Rick

terry_5

veismann vs quantum?what s your opinion?

ScottMP

I agree with Rick

His is the same answer I was gong to give.

Scott

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Joe Brix

The MPO

is an American made 3 pass boiler that looks easy to clean.
If your confident in your contractor, that's they I'd go.

STEVEN MARKS

Crown Freeport is what I usually install. Crown has been making a 3 pass for 25 years.

Jim_67

I have had 3 boilers in three houses.
AO Smith
Burnham
and currently a Slantfin.
Happy with all because I hired the best installer I could find.

terry_5

out of those 3 i would say burnhams best

Aqueous

Best Boiler

Time tested practice of cast iron boilers is push nipples between the sections.I have installed many of these and have taken apart and re-assembled quite a few.

Back in the seventies I went to Weil MaClain school for heating while they were still a stand alone company. They have since became part of a conglomerate which tends to limit R & D money due to the priorities and bottom line mentality of conglomerates.

In my opinin they opened the door very wide for Burnham when they did this.The neoprene gasket seal on a cast iron boiler is plain dumb design.

We all look for the best while finding the most cost effective boiler(and systems). Ask questions like efficiency, durability and service ability(meaning quality installs and subsequent servicing)

Oil burning heating devices need to be installed and maintained by competent people with proper equipment.You will find that here if you choose a contractor that services your area.

Aqueous

Bob Forand

Crown Freeport

Crown Freeport, 3 Pass design, 25 years experience, and lifetime warranty to boot...

S Ebels

Here's how I'd rank them

#1 without a doubt (in my mind that is) Viessmann Vitola because of it's ability to tolerate any return water temp, sterling reliability record (failure rate of .005% over the entire production of the boiler), The Viessmann Chassis burner, great integrated control design, super easy service of both boiler and burner, Can use oil, LP or natural gas by changing the burner... I could go on.

#2 Buderus G115/215 series with a Riello burner using their 2107 control or a Viessmann Vitorond 100. Both do a lot of the same things as the Vitola very well.

Close #3 Crown Freeport. It doesn't look like much but is a very efficient and dependable boiler. I've used several.

#4 Burnham MPO which is Burnham's answer to the European built 3 passers. It's probably as good as #3 and maybe #2 but I haven't used any personally. Other Burnham products I have used in the past have performed well.

Those are my personal rankings and fair debate can be made over the positions of 2,3 & 4. I doubt if there will be much debate about #1.

S Ebels

Absolutely

Just look back at the pictures of the Vitola massacre I posted a couple weeks ago (How not to install a radiant)

The Vitola is in a class by its self as boilers go, unfortunately the dweeb who installed this one was in a class by himself also and he failed to attend.

Supply House Rick

Rick is right

a viessmann or anything else mentioned is a very expensive paper weight if installer isnt up to speed Rob

Jonathan_10

oil boilers

I need to replace my boiler.I have a seven room house with 2 zones, forced hot water with the old cast iron radiators.The kitchen is baseboard radiator heat.It is also the 2nd zone.The rest of the house is zone 1 .The kitchen and den are over crawl space while the rest of the house is over the basement.I was told I could not run heat out to the den because the pipes would freeze in the crawl space during the winter.(I live in New England).I have no idea how much I should expect to pay for a new boiler.Is Sears any good?They offer a free estimate and financing but I don't know if their systems are any good.Any help would be greatly appreciated. Jonathan

Ron Schroeder

Jonathan

Might be better to put this in as a new topic so as to not get lost in cyperspace

gerry gill

how about this--

research a good contractor instead and let him/her chose the boiler..

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ct shore liner

best bioler

we had pensotti blue lines installed in our own home and 2 rental properties they are quiet and we' had no trouble so far. we also cut our feul oil use by an average of 60% thats right six oh.

Unknown

sears?

Sears? Be very careful and BEWARE!!

Dave Larsen_2

installer is everything

Rick is absolutly right, the installer you chose is the key. Any boiler can be a problem with a bad installation.It sounds like you need a relatively high temp. water in your system. Be aware that the high efficiency condensing boilers can boast a 90%+ efficiency at lower temps.,the higher the return temp, the more the rating decreases. warranty then becomes a factor,5-8 yrs for the aluminum,stainless steel, etc. or 20+ for cast iron. time to consider payback time for each. A good contractor will fill you in and let you make the right choice. Good luck to you.

joel_19

Sears?

Why would you buy from a big box ? we can offer you avariety of finance programs including no money down no , no interrest for a year . Search for alocal contractor.
www.boucherenergy.com

Constantin

Good Points...

But ultimately the "best boiler" is the one that has all the features you want and which was installed by a knowledgable technician who can also service the thing using locally-available parts.

Consumer education is the key to the puzzle and there are quite a few differentiated boilers and brands to choose from. The first step in the direction of optimum boiler performance is a consumer who is willing to pay a comensurate wage for the installer/maintainer and who is willing to take the long view re: cost/benefit.

I am very happy with my Vitola, and I am very greateful to Jim McCarthy and the rest of the merry band at Viessmann to allow me to take classes there to get to know the equipment better. The more I learned about the boiler, it's control system, etc. the more I realized how well it was suited to the low-temperature emitter system in my home.

Clueless in CT_2

Best Boiler? Best Installer...

I just wanted to say THANKS!! To all of you for helping me out on this!! I feel much better after reading all your emails - mostly stressing that its installation and service that are most important!

Truly appreciate your help!!