Which Oil Boiler

Clueless_in_PA

I've had several bids on a new oil boiler for my hydronic baseboard heat (no water coil).  Each contractor says his is the best.  If putting in your house, which would you choose?



Weil McClain WGO 3

Carrier Performance 86

Utica Tri Fire

Dunkirk Empire II

Slant Fin Intrepid TR



Thanks for any help.

MIke_Jonas

None of the above

I would choose the contractor that I felt most comfortable with.



Do they have any factory training on the brand they sell?



Do they stock parts for the boiler they intend to install?



How far away are they?



References?

Did any of them do a proper heat loss calc?

Steamhead

My favorite in that group

would be the Utica Tri-fire. Its three-pass design is much easier to maintain than the other four, which are vertical-flue types with pins to absorb heat. These pins can be difficult to clean, and if not cleaned properly your efficiency will suffer. Since you're going to be living with this boiler for a while, might as well get the better design.



Other three-pass boilers are Biasi/QHT, Buderus, Burnham MPO, Dunkirk Excelsior, Slant/Fin Eutectic, Solaia, Viessmann, Weil-McLain Ultra Oil, and any others I forgot to mention. As far as I know they're all in the 86-87% AFUE range.



And as to contractors- what Mike said.