Which oil burner is best for me?

wheredo1begin_

 I am replacing a very old boiler. I have the nice old radiator heating throughout. I currently occupy  two floors, and may possibly expand to a 3rd floor in the future. My house is about 2200 square feet, I believe.

It was recommended that I buy a Vitorond 100 CR1-50 172 MBH C.I. Sectional Boiler Viessmann VR10059.....  with a Viessmann Riello 40FS Oil burner VR1-33 40 50 Chilmney Vent 7311317.

They said that this is comparable to the boiler I have now (which they said was probably purchased before many of the windows were replaced with more efficient ones.) and that this would heat the entire house including the top floor if I decided to make it into living space.

Is this boiler going to be appropriate in case I do expand to another floor?

Also, I have a friend who has installed and worked on boilers and furnaces while working for schools and who will be retiring soon to work with an energy company installing boilers and furnaces. .Since he is not employed with the energy company right now and since he does not currently have is own business, but does this on the side (without insurance) and comes highly recommended, could his installation of the boiler(and new inside oil tank)  invalidate my home insurance?

Sorry I have so many questions, but I have no idea where to start.

Mac_R

What is best for you

The best thing for you to do is call a licenced HVAC contractor to do a load calculation of your home.  That will tell you  the amount of BTUs required to heat your home.  We can no longer stand across the street and use the thumb.  Also you can't use the "This looks like".  The most important thing to do is not say "The old unit is 150,000BTUs so lets put in the same."  NO! We need to match the boiler to the home.  No longer are we going to oversize boilers.  Talking of boilers, I recommend the Bureaus G125BE boiler with their blue flame burner.  With that boiler you will have to line the flue or you can direct vent.  Direct vent is recommended with most cases.  Also it is extremely important to bring in out side air for combustion.  Another thing you might want to think of is replacing the tank.  If the unit is 20-30 years old then the tank is most likely that old or older. 

Big Ed_4

All Depends

I have been working in the industry for 40 years..



What I would do is conduct a heat loss calculation.. You could do one your self which I would recommend .. You would need to measure the envelope of the building , windows walls and ceilings ... types of window ,doors,sky lights, ceilings ,R valve of insulation..Net. square footage of walls and ceilings and cubic footage of home .. Either calculate on line or take out a book ... This would give you your BTU loss pre ten degree drop outside .. What is the coldest day of the year in your area ? Then you would know the the BTU out put needed to heat your home... It may not be enough to supply hot water , which most likely is greater then heating it ... Figure a 100K output boiler can produce 2 gallons a minute ... This is important if you're using the boiler to heat up an indirect .. You have to ask are you water demands are scattered or all in the same time frame .. Then balance the recovery to the size hot water tank used .. And the flow rate of hot water used is also important .. Most use a 2.5 gallon shower head ... Multiply by the length of your shower needed... Large bath tubs figure gallons per gallons bath tub /tank size ...



Also since you have large cast iron radiation , You can figure low temperature heating which is a good thing... less system loss ... Just make sure it's adusted for it..



Now how should you hire is up to you ... Me 40 years and still learning the industry.. Over the years I seen young good installers and bad older ones ... Some just can't or don't want to learn better ways of installing heating systems .. Price should not be you're main criteria .. What your are paying for is more important ..



What I would recommend is you do more research for your needs then go shopping ... This equipment would be in your home for many years to come .. Buy comfort , efficiency and a good running installation ...