which type of boiler?

bruce pirger

anyone have any prefrence on boilers. i want to put in a new heating system. a hydro air. dont know if i want an amtrol unit or a coil on the boiler. i was lookin at peerless and burnham and weil mclain.

kevin

boilers

Hi Chris,
You did not specify as to what fuel you would use. The boilers you mentioned are all fine However no matter what you put in for a boiler it is the installation that is THE most important thing.Get with a reputable contractor and dicuss your options. Click on Find a contractor to see if there is someone in you area. Good luck! Kevin

John

Finding a boiler

I am looking for an (oil) boiler For hot water baseboard. The baseboard is installed and I am looking for the boiler now. I do not plan on using the boiler for hot water (I have a gas hot water heater). Any suggestion on what to get. Would a cold start be used in this case? I was looking at a low mass cast iron boiler, like a Weil-McLain Gold, or Peerless EC. Any suggestion.... Where could I get a boiler at discount pricing? Can I get it of the net somewhere or would an independent heating contractor help in this area? (I will be installing it myself). I would hate to call a contractor and get laughed at because I am just looking for a boiler, Does this ever occur?

Mark Hunt

I took this from the Real Log Home site. It is no different with boilers.




Your Independent Representative is your greatest asset after you've purchased your package!
When you purchase a REAL LOG HOME™, you'll get more than a toll-free number - you'll get local service and support. In addition to guiding you through the design and purchase of your home, your REAL LOG HOMES® Independent Representative will supply ON-SITE Technical Assistance!

ON-SITE Technical Assistance really does make a difference!
ON-SITE Technical Assistance from your Independent Representative helps provide a quality assurance check that all materials specified are present and are still in top-quality condition - just like when they left the factory. With local service, your Independent Representative can truly be there to help you share instructions with the builder, review Blueprints and the Construction Manual, and answer questions at the beginning of log construction. Local service helps us efficiently address any questions, material needs, or general "trouble-shooting" issues to help keep your project on schedule.

Unless you are VERY familiar with setting up the burner on an oil fired system, you may want to re-think your decision to do this yourself.

Mark H

To Learn More About This Contractor, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Contractor"

John@Reliable

Way to go mark!!!!!

Unknown

Do your self boiler installation

This is not meant as acritisism but a cautionary note.

A lawyer that represents himself has a fool for a client.
A Physician that heals him self usually has dead client.

Those two profeesionals have the knowledge to help other people but can not help themselves.

Any home owner that installs a boiler in their home has this problem, The manufacturer will not honor the boiler warrentee. The local code enforcement agency will violate your installation. How will the home owner set the fire for the fuel burning equipment? What will the home owner do if the boiler installation causes fire, flood or death by carbon monoxide asphyiation.

Insurance companies do not like to carry the whole liability for a disaster. They will search all records looking to find a partner in the big pay out.

If they find that a home owner did the installation that home owner may get no pay out.

So if you are out to save a buck, some times you have to a buck.


Jake

John

I am beginning to see how the "WALL" works. If a homeowner posts a question, one gets a reply that is down grading and basically is told they don't know what they are doing.
Then they are referred to "find a contractor". Well, I will tell you this, if I where to ever need to find a contractor, I would choose the one that is trying to help out. The one that is answering my basic questions or offering options and maybe stating that a certain project might not be for a "do it yourselfer", and then suggest looking at "find a contractor". I definitely would NOT hire some "know it all" contractor that says I do not know what I am talking about and I better hire someone to do it or it will be wrong.

I am sure this is a prime example of contractor sticking together "Job security". I will not tell you how to do it or offer any suggestion but you can hire us by going to find a contractor. If this is the case this site should be set up different. I was told by Dan Holohan from mailroom@heatinghelp.com to post my questions on the "wall" and get some opinions. I have not gotten options at all. Oh yah I did get some all similar..."FIND A CONTRACTOR"

This is one place I will NOT be back too! I will be sure to let any acquaintances and friends know about this site. If you want to find a contractor ONLY go to: http://www.heatinghelp.com. If you need some assistance or looking for helpful hints go somewhere else.

keith

relax

Take it easy big fella, This is America do what feels good.You did get some good advise in being advised to find a qualified contractor. If after careful consideration you feel capable of tackling the project go ahead. Your best bet is to find a local supply house that will deal with you without degrading you. They also may suggest someone to come in after the boiler is installed to set the burner up properly.

John@Reliable

John, You need to check the "wall" more often because thier is plenty of help given to pros and H.O. alike for alot of things, but installing a system is not something anyone should do without alot of training, most of my work is "fixing" other people's ( I even mean pro's) mistakes on new systems due to bad piping causing air in system, no combustion testing,over & under firing, etc. The bottom line is I see this all the time & when I'm done with my bill + what was already spent before me it would have been cheaper to have us do the job first. Hope this helps & ask around where you live for a good , safe ,installer. Maybe local fire dept could help? Here in Ma. they do inspections & know who to watch. Good Day
PS most people in trade Don't take pride in what they do like here on the "wall"

PJO

Another \"HO's\" perspective...

John,

As the two earlier posts state; take it easy, and stick around. You won't regret it.

I designed and installed (with three other guys) everything in my home before this website existed. I had no experience prior to that, but I did have enough sense to get a tech to do the final hook-ups on the boiler and test/certify it. He did the same for the two A/C units. This was money well spent, and to this day he is the only person (besides me) to touch that gorgeous thing in the corner of my basement....no, not the shuffleboard table!

Every heating season Glenn comes back and tests her out. Gives me a nice little readout off the Testo unit when he's done. Another few bucks well spent. If I have any trouble - like when my transformer went last year - he's there and gets top dollar, because I couldn't get to the supplier and he had a Carlin on the truck...again, money well spent. I wouldn't have it any other way, because I know my limits and want to ensure my family has the safest, most comfortable and efficient heat there is.

This website is the best...maybe I'm a bit whacked sometimes (don't go there!), but I'm proud to be a Wallie - and I am not a contractor.

Just my thoughts, PJO

Mark Hunt

Hi John!

I notice that you didn't leave your e-mail address so I am going to assume that you are the same John Campbell that I replied to.

The person that posted the question listed "Real Log Homes" as their place of business, so I looked up the web site. You can obviously see what I found posted there regarding the importance of having a representative of the company involved in the process of building a "Real Log Home".

In fact, it is a selling point for "Real Log Homes" that they take personal involvement in EVERY structure they sell. And I would go so far as to say that one would be lead to believe that this is the difference between "Real Log Homes" and all the rest. That's GREAT!!!!! A company that knows and cares about the end user, and brings a vast amount of EXPERIENCE to the job site!!!!

Now John, would you not agree that there are some things that "should not be tried at home"?

I wouldn't attempt to build a "Real Log Home" even though I own a hammer, a tape measure and a level.

Improperly installed heating systems can and WILL KILL people just as a "Real Log Home" would if it wasn't built correctly.

Now you may go away from this site thinking that all the pros here care about is "their slice of the pie", but you would be wrong.

If anyone reads my post and then compares it to the one you followed up with, they will see that I only spoke the truth and I only posted what "Real Log Homes" has on their own web site. You, however, responded with an attack on all the folks that REALLY care enough about their customers to study and learn the CORRECT AND SAFE way to do what they do.

There is this thing called CARBON MONOXIDE that WILL KILL YOU AND EVERY PERSON THAT STAYS IN YOUR HOUSE if the system is set up wrong.

I do not apologize for posting what I did as I had NOTHING to do with "REAL LOG HOMES" mission statement.

I think that I will copy this discourse and e-mail it to "Real Log Homes" so that they have an accurate record of the dialog. I want them to know that we all agree whole heartedly with their "Technical Support" idea and try to provide the same in our own businesses.

John, I wish you only the best of good health and comfort.


Mark H



To Learn More About This Contractor, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Contractor"

Unknown

We use the Peerless line

Exclusively , and the EC model is top notch , in my opinion . Since youre going to be installing an oil boiler , you might want to look into scrapping the gas heater and adding an indirect heater . The extra expence on the tank will pay for itself in no time , compared to a gas water heater. And combining oil and gas into one chimney might be a no-no where youre located. With an indirect heater you would have basically an unlimited supply of hot water . We use the Crown Megastor , and the Phase 3 , both proven to work quite well .

Jed_2

Low Mass...NOT

The boilers you mentioned are not Low Mass boilers. By today's standards, they would be high mass boilers(Viessman & Buderus & Biasi excepted). They are also Pin type boilers, not high thermal efficiency, types.

Jed

Mark Hunt

Oh. And one other thing John.

"Find a contractor" was NOT MENTIONED IN ANY OF THE REPLIES TO YOUR POST.

Good luck jcampbell@realloghomes.com

Mark H

To Learn More About This Contractor, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Contractor"

jerryb

You might try using a simple THANK YOU with your posts.

Mark Hunt

Sorry.

Thank you.

Mark H

To Learn More About This Contractor, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Contractor"

John

My question on heating systems does not have anything to do with "Real Log Homes" or what I do for work. "Real Log Homes" do not have any connections with this. Your assumption that I work for "Real Log Homes" was solely based on my E-mail address. Any question or comments made by myself is for personal information only. Thank you.

jerryb

Sorry

Mark the sorry was not for you but for the BIG GUY who does not know how the WALL works