Recommendations for steam boiler

jiggy72

Any recommendations for a new gas steam boiler (any brands that should be at top of list vs bottom of the list in quality or stay away from?). I live in Northeast and it gets real cold in winter.

Danny Scully

Peerless

HVACNUT

Depending on the EDR, the Peerless ECT and a Carlin EZ gas burner is a nice setup.

AMservices

Mostly I look at the size of the system (EDR of radiators)
Then find the boiler that matches. Watch out for the hidden 33% pickup factor most manufacturers add in for you.
Try to find a boiler with 3" supply tapings off the top.

jiggy72

So depending on my EDR will determine which is a better brand boiler to go with?

AMservices

> @jiggy72 said:
> So depending on my EDR will determine which is a better brand boiler to go with?

Yes, start by find the EDR, then look at boiler ratings.
Peerless
Weil-mclain

Jamie Hall

Also pay at least some attention to which boiler or boilers the people you choose to do your installation prefer to work with. The actual make of steam boiler is considerably less important than either proper sizing or proper installation.

Or to put it another way... an incompetent install (and we see a lo of them here on the Wall) will make any steam boiler work poorly.

STEAM DOCTOR

Installer is much more important than boiler. Avoid anything with side Outlets. Peerless is a good boiler but if I'm not mistaken it comes with a cycle guard low water cutoff. Make sure installer replaces if you go with peerless.

jiggy72

Thank you for your recommendations. Does piping always need to be done/changed whenever steam boiler is installed?

Dave0176

For a gas atmospheric boiler there is only two brands I can recommend, Weil-McLain and Peerless. I’m a Weil-McLain dealer so that’s what I’d be installing. Burnham would be at the bottom of that list, but at least it makes the list. They need to be installed right and the water quality needs to be monitored. Here in the North east coastal NJ, they don’t seem to do so well.

Here are boilers to stay away from in my opinion any ECR Dunkirk branded or rebadged boiler and Utica boilers, to me and a lot of guys these boilers are just not well suited for steam applications.

And most of all pick a good knowledgeable STEAM WORTHY contractor. We can install any brand and have them work right.

Jamie Hall

jiggy72 said:

Thank you for your recommendations. Does piping always need to be done/changed whenever steam boiler is installed?

That's one of those questions. If the new boiler is the same as the old one -- and I do mean exactly the same -- and the old piping is correct, then no. Otherwise... it would be very rare that you wouldn't have to change the near boiler piping. Vanishingly rare...

jiggy72

Do peerless come with auto damper? Does it matter if a boiler has auto damper or natural draft?

STEAM DOCTOR

every gas boiler comes with an auto damper

STEAM DOCTOR

Auto damper and natural draft are not opposites. Natural draft and power vents are opposites for our purposes

lchmb

Have any installer you look into explain how they sized the boiler and have them show you photo's of previous installs. Make sure you contract includes time to skim the boiler not only at the time of install but a second time if necessary. I like to replace vents as well, mains and radiators... do it once, do it right..
Check the list of installers on here.. good place to start..

Danny Scully

Where are you located @jiggy72?

The Steam Whisperer

Motorized dampers are only standard on boilers under 300,000 btu/hr input. In the Peerless line this is the 63 series steamer boilers. Power burner boilers have much lower standby losses, so the dampers are not nearly as useful. Power vent steam boilers( the only smaller one is the Burnham Independance) also don't have dampers since the standby losses are much lower than atmospheric burner boilers.

Koan

you may want to consider a Carlin EZ-Gas burner Firing a Slant-Fin Intrepid Steam Boiler

New England SteamWorks

Koan said:

you may want to consider a Carlin EZ-Gas burner Firing a Slant-Fin Intrepid Steam Boiler

If you are going to go this route (wet base + conversion burner), use a Weil SGO.

Otherwise, Weil EG or Peerless 63. Accept no substitutes or regret will be your companion.

It's correct to say the installer should know. But if the installer knows steam, -he won't suggest anything else.

Koan

my installer suggested the slant fin, and he knows steam

Danny Scully

@New England SteamWorks, the intrepid is ok, the galaxy isn’t lol. You didn’t get burned by an intrepid. The slant/fin intrepid is a tank of a boiler. I completely agree with you on the galaxy but that’s not what @Koan is talking about.

ethicalpaul

Here is my recent thread. I came out of it leaning Weil-McClain (or more likely its value brand label, Williamson. The Peerless looks great too but it’s quite salty

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/167838/best-small-gas-steam-boiler

nicholas bonham-carter

Of course it depends on which brand is supported locally.—NBC

brandonf

What about Burnham megasteam with a Carlin EZ gas?

Fred

brandonf said:

What about Burnham megasteam with a Carlin EZ gas?

It can and has been done but Burnham will void the warranty. They have not certified the Megasteam for gas, just oil.

Koan

@Snowmelt

I would like to hear why you disagree with @Danny Scully
Would you please elaborate?