Decision on new boiler and installer finally made!

Howard Emerson

.........Robert O'Brien of Technical Heating Co. in Mount Sinai, NY!

I wanted to make sure it was okay with Rob prior to posting his name and company, although he's always quick on the 'post' here with information, opinions, etc.

Thanks again!

Howard

Howard Emerson

New boiler and installer decision made! Long...........

The moment of truth nears........

First and foremost I need to thank Dan Halloran and Alan Mercurio for hosting and providing two very friendly and informative forums, where home owners, like me, can go for information on heating systems.

Secondly I need to thank all the boiler-men who, incredibly, hang out here on their off time......!!! You guys are to boilers what nerds are to computers.................As Martha would say ‘...And that’s a good thing’!

A month ago I started asking about new boilers to replace our 20yr old Blueray with the leaking tankless-coil gasket. We used 1230 gallons in 2005, and 1229 in 2004, so we’re not happy, aside from the leak in the tankless.........

So I did some ‘research’, did the Heat Loss room dimensions, got some ideas and threw a couple of names ‘out there’ to get some ‘professional’ opinions. Concurrent to this we started making appointments for estimates, including one from our long-time oil supplier.

I was pretty sure on getting a Biasi B-4, a Riello, a SuperStor and outside controls (BRSO system), although I had also looked into an Energy Kinetics System 2000.

One private email reply I got from an out-of-state professional told me, flat out, “They (Energy Kinetics) are using smoke and mirrors to inflate savings potential”. He went on to say that a particular ‘expert’ stated that System 2000 has no third party verification. He went on... “They can say whatever they want. Basically they are showing no proof their product works on the website or to any official testing agency.”

Coupled with a phone conversation I had with a local oil company salesman (that sold and installed these units) who couldn’t give me any 3rd party verification, I decided to just get B-R-S-O system estimates.

Tech ‘A’ came first. Primarily a Biasi sort of guy, he asked for my home measurements to plug into the software, looked at the existing system and answered a whole list of questions I had printed out prior to meeting anyone.

Asked about the System 2000, he only had nice things to say about it, had actually installed them as well and mentioned some behind the scenes info regarding Brookhaven testing etc.

Prior to leaving he gave me a written estimate for the BRSO system and so we’d officially started looking.

A few days later I got a call from a 2-week-old email I’d sent to a local System 2000 dealer, ‘Tech B’, so I set up an appointment anyway. I listened to the pitch and all the 3rd party info that he had, but when I asked him to price the BRSO system anyway, he refused, though his site implies that he does other systems.

He gave me a reference to see a local consumer who had a recent System 2000 install, and he gave me a price for my home..............and then proceeded to add on for the extra zones he’d forgotten about.

His basic price was 7% more than ‘Tech A’ prior to the extra zones and then it was over 18% once they were figured in!!

Okay................So then I had my oil guy, ‘Tech C’, come over and he was only too happy to give me a price on the BRSO system, but without an outdoor control. “Why not? I asked.

He told me that the only people who need those are landlords who don’t want their tenants using too much oil when it’s not cold out..........Hmm.........Doesn’t that work the other way for the oil supply man? He was a few dollars less than Tech A.....

Anyway..........The last guy, ‘Tech D’ (who actually called first upon seeing a post on Heating Help’) came over finally and priced the BRSO system and his price was through the roof, frankly........Also had some less-than-complimentary things to say about stainless steel SuperStor tanks..........but he was thorough and showed me how cleaning my upstairs convectors would make them work much better.

Gee, thanks!

So that was my education, and now I had to make a decision based upon ‘This guy says, that guy says, etc’.

During all this, at some point in time, I was with my brother-in-law talking about the boiler purchase choices and he says “My sister Helen has a System 2000’ as a matter of fact”. Really?

So I’m thinking...........She has a split level, similar to ours, but in CT, and only 2 zones, while we have 3. She keeps 67F and we keep 68F.....................I figured ‘Close enough for rock & roll”.

I emailed Helen and she got her oil usage chart for the past 12 months, and I was expecting it to be different, but when she told me it was 716 gallons, total, VS our 1230 gallons I could not believe it!!!

She’s now had her System 2000 since 1993 and has had no real issues with it, so that was it for me. She’s using about 58% as much fuel as us so I’m hoping we’ll do much better now.

The system was delivered yesterday by ‘Tech A’ and installation is on Monday.

Pics and performance impressions to follow at some point..........Hopefully our oil company will drop us on suspicion of spot-buying..............

Thanks again to all, no matter how you ‘Cast’ your opinion, or ‘Steeled’ yourself in the argument. All was considered so that my wife and I could make an informed decision and we’ll live with our choice.

Best regards,
Howard Emerson
Huntington Station, NY

Perry_2

I have a similar story on the differences in \"reps\"

I have yet to post my my "decission" story; although the decission was made 2 weeks ago.

I'm moving the boiler across the basement and involved in a basement remodeling project.

I will second your story about being able to find people to replace a boiler who are knowlegable and honest.

My big question is - what about all the other people who never take the time to get educated about the options and issues - and who only buy based on either "the lowest" initial price; or based on who they liked best.

It has to be a mess out there.

Perry

ps: please don't respond that I should "Find a Professional" There is not, last time I checked, a single "professional" listed on the Wall for the state I live in (much less in my area as I am not in one of the larger cities).