Condensing gas boiler you install

bob eck

Just checking what brand high efficiency condensing gas boiler that you install. Do you use Triangle Tube, Burnham, Weil McLain, Peerlees, Lochinvar, Navien, Baxi, Laars, Bosch, Slant Fin, or Utica or any other brand? What are the main reasons for using the brand that you install? How long have you been installing high efficiency condensing gas boilers? Are there any problems with these condensing gas boilers? What is the life expectancy of this type of boiler?

Robert O'Brien

Viessmann or Triangle Tube

I don't have gas in my house unfortunately,but if I did,I'd use one of these two. Why sell something you don't believe in yourself? I base this on seven years experience with mod/cons and quite a few service calls on the brands we don't install. I eliminate Gianonni based boilers out of hand,I know others feel differently,but I'm just not convinced. I also am skeptical about aluminum HX,we did a Bosch Greenstar a couple months ago with no issues and Bosch may make me revisit this issue. Local support is huge and while I'm not disparaging the others support, Chris Madeira from RAL Supply is outstanding with Viessmann support as well as Wales Darby the local rep. Same with TT,Bob Chapman and Billy Gluckin are both fantastic. My opinion,FWIW

Bob Gagnon plumbing and heating

Utica Boilers

Make a great boiler, check out the Utica SSC series. It's made by the same family in upstate New York for nearly a hundred years. Great boiler and great service, I've been using Utica's exclusively for decades.



Thanks, Bob Gagnon

nicholas bonham-carter

Which boiler

Isn't it all a matter of what manufacturers distributor you have close to you? And hopefully they will stock the parts you need when you need them!--NBC

JohnNY

It depends on the application.

I install about 50 cast iron Burnham boilers every year which put me in position to naturally prefer to use their newly-minted mod-cons at the time. But then having had mixed results with Burnham's neatly packaged Alpine considering support was spotty, I looked around to see what else was out there.



I fell in love with Triangle Tube's vertical fire tube heat exchanger and used that product almost exclusively for a while. I also really like their indirect water heaters so using the two together makes for a nice job.



But then, when Weil-McLain went from the MCBA controller to the U-Control, I got hooked on that one. Plain English control? Multiple zone temps? Wait! What?



Then Lochinvar wined and dined me in Nashville and took me through a 2-day product tour that was extraordinary. They gave me hands on training on their control and when I left, I was confident I could install their boilers anywhere in Manhattan's low-to-mid-rise buildings using their many control options (fan speeds!), approval for use with room makeup air, and 160psi pressure tolerance.



Now, I'm very impressed with Aerco's Modulex EXT line but it's nearly three times the price of the WM and Lochinvar equivalents. Yes. I paid well over $8,000 for the last 321MBH model I bought, but it's the real deal with 20:1 turndown and redundant everything.



So, now I do my best to match the product to the application.



I think that's the best you can do rather than decide what's "the best boiler" or otherwise establish one to use exclusively.

Aaron_in_Maine

Firetube

I install NTI TFT boilers. Before that Triangle Tube. I like the Firetube heat exchanger. I have PTSD over the Gianonni exchanger from the early munchkins. The propane company I worked for had a condo complex that had 50 of them except the installing plumber didn't read the manual until the third or forth building! We were stuck doing the service and correcting them. I remember one unit started leaking after only 4 years! About a dozen were not piped pri/sec.

nicholas bonham-carter

Life expectancy

If properly installed, and SERVICED, the life span will be longer than the badly installed boiler.

Some cast iron boilers have more than a hundred years on them and are still going strong, but inefficient (my Ideal hot-water, from 1895-gas burner). Some cast iron boilers have only gone 7 years due to bad installation.

New mod-cons, if properly maintained should last at least 15 years before some electronic part gives up the ghost, and then the part may be unobtainable.

As every one is reminded here, it's not the boiler; it's the installation, paying attention to the manufacturers instructions is the key, as well as having access to needed parts in stock later on.--NBC

TonyS

Triangle Tube

Prestige. I believe this is year number 10. The MCBA controls were good but the Trimax is great.. Out of 50 some boilers I have had almost zero trouble. That is very important for me since I am the one installing and servicing. I like my weekends off and I don't care for working late at night.

The boiler doesn't require pri-sec piping in 90 percent of installations. Tying into old gravity systems straight through the exchanger on low speed and outdoor reset is just a win win situation. The company and staff is first class.

Steve Ebels_3

Go to manufacturers

I avoid anything with a Giannoni heat exchanger like the plague.



Viessmann and TT all the way.



That being said, all M/C boiler require regular maintenance, as in religious regular maintenance. Double the emphasis on that if the boiler is running LP gas.