Need to decide on a new boiler

kinVT78

I need help deciding on a new boiler for my home. My current boiler is original to the home that was built around 1994 I believe. Its a Slant Fin. So it is pushing 30 years old at this point.

My domestic hot water tank died in June (pressure was off and sending water back to the boiler which was then leaking out the pressure relief valve). So I had to have that replaced and it cost me a good amount. I asked the plumber that day about a new boiler. He recommended a traditional cast-iron boiler. He said my house needed plenty of hot water since it has baseboard heat and that the savings with a high-efficiency boiler get eaten up the 1st time you have to have a maintenance call. He quoted me around $ to $ for one with slightly higher efficiency. He said the cast-iron would last 30 years whereas the high efficiency would be more like 10-15. Also, less maintenance with cast iron. I have a separate boiler room in the basement that stores the hot water tank + boiler so he said I have plenty of room to go with a traditional boiler. I dont need to save space by having a wall mounted unit.

I want to add here that I am a single mom of 2 teens and my husband died this year. So high maintenance is not my thing. I don't have the money for it either. With our slant fin boiler we maybe had someone look at it 2 times in 17 years.

I had another company come out to give me a quote and their quote was for just under $ for a Weil-McLain GV90+3. They would change out all of the circulators as well (the 1st guy didn't specify any of that).

I'm torn on what to do. I read that the Weil McLain has a 2nd condensing heating unit that requires more maintenance. I'm not sure what to go with. I live in northern New England. My house is about 3000 sq feet (including some finished basement sq footage) and has 4 heating zones & baseboard heat.

I just want to replace the Slant Fin before it breaks in the middle of winter. Someone please steer me in the right direction. Thank you!

Big Ed_4

Is your boiler leaking ?

GroundUp

Somebody is going to get upset about your pricing, as it's not supposed to be discussed here. It really depends on the heat load and your radiation, but generally I would agree with the first guy. If you're replacing the boiler, it's probably time to replace the circulator(s) and other components as well. 30 years was a good run. At that point, a high efficiency boiler would probably end up similar in cost to the cast iron. If a 10% efficiency gain saves you $200 a year, it'd be foolish to go that route but if it saves you $2000 per year, then it's making good sense. I just bid one of these out this morning for a 1600 SF slab home and looking at the customer's gas bills and the fact that their radiation would require 140*+ water temps pretty much all year, it made zero sense to switch to a condensing boiler. Then again I replaced one a few weeks back in a big 7000 SF auto shop with in-floor heating that saved several thousand per year by going to a condensing boiler. In recap, it depends.

kinVT78

No, the current boiler is not leaking. But it is 30 years old. And I'm worried about it breaking in the dead of winter.

kinVT78

Sorry about the pricing. I feel like thats relevant though to make a decision? My gas bill for the year in 2022 was $1863.03. So far this year my bills are about $33 less on gas up to August. I have a gas dryer as well.

I guess what really confused me is that I have some neighbors that switched to high-efficiency boilers and they all love them. So I was surprised when the 1st plumber didnt recommend that route. But I was glad the 2nd guy also didnt recommend one, but he did say they do the Weil-McLain GV90 boilers.

Is the Weil-McLain GV90+3 going to cost me more money to maintain?

The 1st guy didnt mention replacing the circulators. But maybe I will just text him and ask. Because it sounds like maybe I should just stick with the regular cast iron and skip the GV90+ since its almost $3k more installed. But it might be less once I get the price for new circulators from the 1st guy.

gyrfalcon

Hello, 
I would like to chime in on this matter. 

I have an early 80s Slant Finn cast iron boiler. Very simple. Very reliable. Old.  Probably not as efficient as a newer one.   Very similar to your situation. Although I have multiple sources of heat for my house . 

As others have said, a heat loss calculation and baseboard measurement needs to be performed first and foremost. 

As far as failures go. All parts minus the cast heat exchanger should be able to be replaced if they fail. 

Heat exchanger failure means boiler replacement entirely.   

Do you have any backup heat sources if yours fails?  

john123

I also have a working slant fin galaxy and am investigating replacement. I too would appreciate comments from others on just what is likely to go wrong with it. I don't think there are any computer type boards--just the gas valve, the aquastat and a couple of other pieces. I'm not a tech but I think the boiler wont "break"--if anything it might start to leak a very little bit, and then next season start to leak a little more---so you have lots of time for a change.

Erin Holohan Haskell

I'm so sorry for your loss @kinVT78.

HVACNUT

Aside from the cast iron block cracking, which is extremely unlikely, there's nothing on your current boiler that can't be repaired or replaced. You have a new indirect water heater, and a simple, reliable boiler. It can definitely go on the back burner for now.

What I would recommend is getting a service agreement with a reliable company so you can get 24/7 emergency service if needed. An agreement should provide a maintenance visit so a tech will annually check and test all the components on the boiler as well as do a combustion test to ensure its running clean and efficiently.  

kinVT78

So I do NOT have an alternate heat source for my house. My neighbor said all the homes on our street had the same Slant Fin Boiler and he told me of at least 5 homes on a street of 12 houses that had to have their boilers replaced in the last 8 years or so. Last time we had a guy out to work on the boiler (I forget what since my husband handled it then) he said we should start thinking about a new boiler in the next few years and i think that was in 2015! So 8 years ago. Do you really think its wise to just let it die on its own and replace it then? I am thinking I would be without heat and hot water for maybe 3 days if that happened and then I'd be dealing with frozen pipes.

The basement is 74 degrees in the summertime with the boiler running. So its definitely letting off alot of heat.

I have the money to replace the boiler thanks to my dad. So I can do it now to prevent more headaches.

Thanks everyone.

kinVT78

I looked at the current boiler and it is a Slant Fin Victory Gas Fired Boiler.

gyrfalcon

I have always been intrigued by the GV90+  boiler, including the stainless recuperating exchanger and multi pass cast iron exchanger, it probably extracts the heat really good, but for the additional cost and complexity it’s not quite an old school, low tech boiler any longer.  It’s almost like a modulating condensing unit but it does not modulate- it just *might condense if conditions are right.  It has 2 circulators- I believe, one of which is internal to the unit and may be proprietary in its design.   Also the exhaust and intake piping may be different than your current slant fin. 

Do you know what kind of new boilers your neighbors have ?  

Are they from the same contractor?

Will the new installation swap out the zone valves, thermostats, expansion tank and other smaller components that are necessary for overall system functionality? 

Do you have a central AC? How old is it, if present ? This answer may lead to a totally different conversation -

 

We will try to guide you as best as we can. 

EBEBRATT-Ed

agree with @hvacnut

kinVT78

So one of my neighbors has a GV90 +4 boiler that was installed by the same company that quoted me the GV90 + 3. Im not sure why they have the 4 and I was quoted for the 3. Our houses are the same size and I assume same # of heating zones.

Another neighbor has a wall mounted high efficiency boiler and on demand hot water heater. He lives alone and his house as 3 or 4 bedrooms.

My nextdoor neighbor told me he got a high efficiency boiler, but i dont know the brand. Its just him and his wife in the house. We all run off of natural gas. He has his done in October, and already had to have a service call in May. But he was very happy so far and said his basement used to be warm from the old Slant Fin boiler, and now he might have to put a heat zone down there because the new boiler doesnt let off enough heat in the basement to have it be warm enough to be down there in winter.

I dont have central air. Was considering also getting a heat pump but will put that on the back burner for now because I dont have money to do both.

I have 1 neighbor I know who is running still on the old Slant Fin like me. But my house was the 1st house in the neighborhood to be built back in 1994 I think. so presumably I also have the oldest boiler.

gyrfalcon

As you may be realizing, more so than brand, the method and quality of the installation is the priority to focus on.  Since your current boiler has had minimal issues, it was probably a decent install and Slant Fin was a good brand, so maybe worth keeping.  You certainly don’t want to end up with a new boiler that was incorrectly sized and poor quality installation. 

So if you are wanting to upgrade your current boiler , solely based on peace of mind , make sure to vet the installer. Even use the “find a contractor “ search on this website. 

Being that your emitters are all baseboard and forced hot water is fairly simple and forgiving, any name brand boiler will be fine given that a few prerequisites are met.  Many on here have favorites, based on availability, customer service, backing up warranty etc.  

Peerless, Utica, US boiler/Burnham, Weil McLain, 
Buderus, Viessmann, HTP.  Lochinvar. All seem pretty good from what I’ve read.