new boiler questions

tonyk

Hello,

I hope this is right place to post this. I have 1000 sq foot slab home in south east Michigan 1 bath,baseboard radiant heat.Crane boiler original to the house. its a reliable unit but it is full of sediment it pings and pangs badly, plus I had replace the gas valve this year. so I figured its time to change it before it starts to leak,plus it cant be that efficient with all that sediment in it . I was going to get a regular boiler installed before may, because was afraid of the reliability of condensing boilers . but the more I read about them I think I will go with a condensing boiler. my water tank is also old so I was thinking about getting the triangle tube prestige excellence. so what I was wondering is this a good boiler,should I deal with a smaller contractor to get it from, normally the guy who gives the quote does the work or a bigger out fit where there is more service guys and maybe faster service if there is a problem but usually a sales guy gives the quote and someone else dose the work. also if I get the unit from a smaller contractor and something happens to him can another contractor do warranty work. what should the contractor do when  installing the unit i.e check for leaks,clean system,change air bleeder expansion tank reducing valve etc.any advice that any one could give me would be greatly appreciated



thank you

nicholas bonham-carter

Choosing a contractor

The choice of the installer is almost more important than the choice of the .

Have you tried the find a contractor button here at the top (search by state).

Any competent expert will do a heat loss on your house so as to choose the right

size for heat and hot water. He will also know who is a stocking distributor in your area, and be able to show you how to do simple maintenance yourself.

Pacing the rooms, and looking at the specs on the old boiler is not enough. You could find the thread here for the "fuel used methods". In one of our buildings, that analysis indicated the old 1950's boiler is 5 times the size it needs to be. My gas supplier can give me a printout of 4 years of consumption, with the degree-days for the periods.

Make sure you get a system with outdoor reset so as to vary the water temperature in response to the outdoor temperature.

The Lochinvar solution looks interesting, as it has ODR, and is lighter than a cast iron atmospheric.--NBC

John Mills_5

Payback

Are you looking for a good investment or just want to go green?



Mod cons aren't as efficient on baseboard as low temp radiation so the savings over a good 82-84% cast iron boiler isn't as great as it could be. In a small home which means small heat loss, that reduces gas usage and savings as well. So the big bucks for a mod con over a said cast iron may not pay back in any kind of reasonable time frame. They tend to require more maintenance and have some very expensive components in them vs. the cast iron so 1 repair down the road would likely cost you more than you've saved. I'm sure I'm well in the minority here but something to think about.



Actually, last boiler class I was in by a national trainer from one of the biggest brands, he said he'd do the same thing if it were his house and baseboard and he was there training us on his mod con!