Burnham vs Triangle Tube Solo 110 Gas Boiler

Toby

I must replace my gas boiler and am considering a Burnham (cast iron) or a Triangle Tube high efficiency one. My concerns are around the repair and upkeep of the Triangle Tube, Also, I wonder how each boiler is effiency wise over its 20+ year life time. I am eager to hear from others with this system. I have good people to install each system.

I live in a 1959 dwelling with a Burnham boiler and want to make a wise decision so welcome all input.

bob eck

burnham vs triangle tube

Burnham Cast iron vs triangle tube solo 110 you are not comparing apples to apples. have a heat loss done on your home. see if you have enough radiation to run a condensing boiler at low temps and still heat your house. you can always add radiation to heat your home with low water temps. the best cast iron boiler burnham has out there is their ES2 that is 85% AFUE and must be vented into a aluminum or stainless steel lined chimney. You can add out door reset control to the ES2 boiler but when the boiler fires it still will be at high fire no matter what the outdoor temp is. The TT PS110 boiler is a full modulating boiler and it condense making it up to 95% AFUE and some times higher if you can keep the return water 130* and lower. The more radiation in the house the lower supply temps you can run and the with the outdoor reset control the boiler will only fire at just the right BTU input to keep the house at the desired temp. to keep future repair cost under control TT offers 5 or 10 year parts and labor warranties the installing contractor can sell you. lets say you bought the 10 year parts and labor warranty and in your 4th year the gas valve goes it will be fixed under the parts and labor warranty. in the 8th year the main control goes bad. same thing it gets fixed under warranty. check with your contractor there might me a deductible for repairs under the extended warranty. The TT extended warranty for parts and labor will not cover annual maintenance costs. I believe burnham also offers a 5 or 10 year parts and labor warranty. Burnham Alpine boiler is a condensing gas boiler that would be comparable to a TT PS110 boiler. The big difference with TT Prestige boiler (stainless steel heat exchanger) vs Burnham Alpine boiler (aluminum heat exchanger) how much domestic hot water do you need Triangle Tube has a Prestige Excellence PE110 boiler that is the same as a TT PS110 boiler but the PE110 has a built in stainless steel indirect water heater that will deliver 180 GPH domestic hot water for showers, laundry, dishwashers ect.... great boiler I have one in my house the PE110. 

CMadatMe

Heat Loss

Before you even decide on a boiler make sure you have a heat loss in your hand. It needs to be a room to room and zone to zone. You then need to compare the output of the exisiting radiation per zone to see how outdoore reset plays in the role of the fuel savings you are looking for. A condensing boilers real true AFUE is a moving 88%-95% effeciency.



While I like the Triangle you should also look at the Viessmann Vitodens 100 providing the heat loss is 120,000 btu's or less. It has a much better warranty and is a simple condesing boiler.



http://www.viessmann-us.com/en/products/gas-brennwertkessel/vitodens100.html



The Burnham ES2 is a great little cast iron boiler. Although as Bob has said you must line the chimmney and by the time you add the outdoor reset feature you are at the price point of a condensing boiler.



A boiler is only as good as the install no matter what you read about it. Concern yourself with finding a good quality contractor for your install.

Jason_13

Burnham Boilers

Just a correction from an earlier post. The Alpine is a stainless Steel boiler. The Burnham Freedom is a cast aluminum boiler.

The ES2 will not need to be serviced every year.

The most important thing also as stated earlier is proper sizing.

Tim McElwain

Burnham ES2 like any gas

boiler needs to have annual service especially on all the mid and high efficiency equipment. They also should have a combustion test conducted at the time of service.