Burnham Alpine vs Weil Mclain Ulta vs Triangle Tube Trimax Solo

NatickDan

I need help with making the best gas boiler decision and I would appreciate any recommendations. I want to select the right manufacturer based on reliability, warranty, maintenance, parts availability and pricing.



Initially I was leaning toward the Alpine, but now there are two other manufacturers that have been recommended Weil Mclain Ultra and the Triangle Tube Prestige Trimax Solo Series. Thank you!

CMadatMe

Vitodens

Viessmann Vitodens 200. Best HX warranty on the market. LamdaPro combustion, nobody else has it. Parts no problem, honestly not many parts to the boiler.





http://www.viessmann-us.com/en/Residential/Products/gas/Vitodens_200.html

unclejohn

Triangl Tube

Best boiler on the market. Fire tube, no itty bitty water tube heat exchanger with hi pressure drop.

CMadatMe

What's Pressure Drop

Through the HX have anything to do with it? If it is the best based on the heat exchanger alone, then Weil, NTI, Lochinvar and every other mfg using the same heat exchanger is the best boiler as well. If this HX is so great then why only a limited warranty?

Zman

Heat exchanger

Take a close look at the exchangers. That is the main difference in condensing boilers.

The Alpine uses gionni. Which is time tested but has a few issues with maintenance.The ultra is aluminum, I would not install aluminum in a heat system. The tt is firetube, I like it.

After you decide on the exchanger. Look at the availability of parts and service in your area as well as quality of controls and warrantee.

The vitoden is also a good option

Carl

NatickDan

Thank You

Thanks for posting your thoughts on the heat exchanger. I'm retired from a career in IT and selecting the right boiler with an indirect HWS has been much more challenging than I imagined. I'm now down to selecting one of two systems - Alpine or Lochinvar Knight. To get the installation in before year end, I need to make a decision soon. Pricing between the two systems is pretty close, but the Alpine comes with a 5 year warranty on parts and labor versus a one year warranty on the Knight. In the end, I want the most dependable system. I still need to do some more research and, hopefully, I'll feel more comfortable with my decision tomorrow.

Zman

I would..

I like Burnhams for cast iron boilers. I my mind the lochinvar wall hung condensing has a superior exchanger and excellent support.

Carl

SWEI

Knights

are not all the same.  If it doesn't have a WHN in the model number, it's not what you want.

Jean-David Beyer

I have an Ultra-3.

I am not a heating contractor, so I have direct experience with only two boilers.



One was a 1950 GE oil fired boiler. No reset. No mixing valves. It came with the house that was built then. Around 1980, the burner quit. It would have been easily repaired, but the spare part was not obtainable. So it was replaced by a Beckett flame-retention burner that was still working when I had the boiler replaced in 2009. The boiler was oversized for the house (about double the needed size). So I set the aquastat to run it at 130F to 140F instead of the more usual 180F. This, no doubt produced a lot of condensation. It ate vent pipes. But the boiler never leaked. So it must have been a tough one. It was steel, not cast iron.



The new boiler is a gas-fired W-M Ultra 3 (80,000 BTU/hour input) that is also somewhat too large, but the smallest in the product line. Aluminum heat exchanger. So far (starting into the fourth heating season) no problems with it. The pH and concentration of Sentinel X-100 in the water tested annually, and serviced annually.



I really like the U-control which is W-M's name for the electonics board in the top of the unit. It is extremel flexible. The only shortcoming, if it is fair to call it that, is that there is no serial port, no USB port, or no ethernet connection to it. I could understand their not wanting people writing to it, but a port like that that is read-only would be just wonderful for someone like me to watch what is going on. All the error conditions, and all the non-error conditions are displayed in plain English; no obscure error codes that must be looked up in the I&M manual.

CarlisleJoe

Burnham Alpine vs. Lochinvar Knight

Hello Dan -

What did you decide on the boiler?  The contractor I'm probably going to use has proposed the Burnham Alpine, but said the Lochinvar Knight is also good.  He told me the gas company in Massachusetts 'really pushes the Burnham'.



I'm leaning toward the Lochinvar.



Would appreciate anyones inputs

NatickDan

Lochnivar Installation Completed

Joe, your timing is spot on as my new Lochnivar heating system went live today. I went with the Lochnivar Knight 105 wall mount and the Lochnivar Squire indirect water heater. I did lots of research and got great feedback from members of this forum. So far, this system is whisper quiet and unlike my previous oil fired boiler, I have no idea when it cycles on.



I also considered the Alpine, but after doing research, I decided to go with the Lochnivar. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Slimpickins

Congrats

Pics please.

NatickDan

Picture - Lochnivar Knight - Squire

Picture of installed Lochnivar Knight Boiler and Squire HW tank.

CFH

Alpine Knight

The Knight and Alpine use the same heat exchanger