Hydronic Contractor in Rhode Island?

P_G_

Hello, I'm a new homeowner in Rhode Island and have been obsessively reading through this forum for the past few weeks. I have a two-family home with forced hot water and cast iron radiators (or are they called something else if not steam)? I plan to change out the boilers and keep the rest of the system.

The current boilers are oil, but there's gas to the house, and the water heaters are gas. The boilers are decades old and running at 64% efficiency, so I'm looking to change them out and switch to gas.

I've had a couple different companies come out to inspect and give quotes on new boilers. Both inspectors/salespeople had very different advice on what type of boiler to go with (conventional vs modcon). So I've been doing research to learn more about the options. But I also didn't get a good sense of how good a job either company would do. After reading through these forums, I would love to hear if anyone here knows a great contractor in RI that they could recommend.

Thanks!

Jamie Hall

I honestly don't know a contractor in Rhode Island, but... I can tell you this:

Whoever you use, the very first thing they need to do is to determine what the heat loss of the house is. That's the only way to properly size a hot water boiler of any kind. There is a handy on-line calculator from Slant/Fin that you can use, too, to double check -- but your contractor needs to do that.

Then... having gotten that far, you -- and your contractor -- can figure out what temperature your radiators need to run at to meet the heat loss (that's different from sizing the boiler) -- and that, in turn, will tell you whether it's worth the cost and maintenance of a mod/con, or whether you will do just as well with a conventional boiler.

P_G_

@Jamie Hall thanks, that's very helpful! I had RISE Engineering come in and do an energy assessment a little while back, and they checked insulation and draft and all that--seems like that info should help. Neither contractor so far mentioned calculating heat loss, so I'll ask if that's something they normally do.

EBEBRATT-Ed

Maybe @Tim McElwain could recommend someone he is in Rhode Island.

Also, @New England SteamWorks might be a possibility.

Rise Engineering usually does engineering and can find you a contractor. But, they usually stress cost quality comes second. They are out of Springfield, MA.

P_G_

@Tim McElwain would love to hear if you have an opinion!

Rise did my home energy assessment; I can check with them re: contractors.

Thanks!