Welcome! Here are the website rules, as well as some tips for using this forum.
Need to contact us? Visit https://heatinghelp.com/contact-us/.
Click here to Find a Contractor in your area.

Contractor Recommendation in Pittsburgh, PA

Andrew_8
Andrew_8 Member Posts: 15
Can someone recommend a good contractor that works in the city Pittsburgh that will take the time to do a heat loss calculation before giving me an estimate for the job?

I've gotten two quotes, one guy just sized the same as my current boiler, the other upsized. My current 32 year old boiler only runs constantly on a 0 degree day, and the house is still comfortable even then.

I am looking to switch from a conventional boiler, driving mostly cast iron rads and a radiant floor loop, to a condensing modulating boiler, possibly with an indirect water heater. I'm having a lot of trouble locating a contractor who I feel I can trust.

I am ready to have this work done this summer, if I can find the right contractor.

Thanks!

Andrew

Comments

  • nicholas bonham-carter
    nicholas bonham-carter Member Posts: 8,576
    At least it sounds like your present boiler is well sized, so as to run nonstop at your design temperature!
    Just run everything ,which is recommended, by here, for many expert comments.--NBC
  • nicholas bonham-carter
    nicholas bonham-carter Member Posts: 8,576
    I meant to ask if you had tried the find a contractor button here.--NBC
  • Andrew_8
    Andrew_8 Member Posts: 15
    I did try that link. No contractors listed within 100 miles of my location.
  • JStar
    JStar Member Posts: 2,752
    I'm surprised that nobody is in your area. Some people from the Cleveland area frequent this site. Can they legally work in Pittsburgh? If you are absolutely desperate, you could hire a pro from out-of-state to make a consultation visit, draw up a heat loss and the total scope of work which you can then hand off to the most reliable company that will be guaranteed to follow those plans.

    I haven't been to Pittsburgh yet!
  • DanHolohan
    DanHolohan Member, Moderator, Administrator Posts: 16,513
    You would think some smart contractors in Pittsburgh would get listed here. Gosh.
    Retired and loving it.
    RobGKC_Jones
  • Harvey Ramer
    Harvey Ramer Member Posts: 2,239
    I will be doing a commercial radiant job in Somerset sometime this year. I could swing up to Pittsburgh and do an on site visit. Spec the system from head to tail...
    Robert O'Brien
  • DanHolohan
    DanHolohan Member, Moderator, Administrator Posts: 16,513
    Gets no better than Harvey.
    Retired and loving it.
  • Andrew_8
    Andrew_8 Member Posts: 15
    Do you know when you would be in Somerset? It's maybe an hour and half from Pittsburgh.
  • Harvey Ramer
    Harvey Ramer Member Posts: 2,239
    The building is still in the planning stages. I'll probably be out there in October I'm guessing.

    May be a little late in the year for you?
  • Andrew_8
    Andrew_8 Member Posts: 15
    Yeah, probably a bit later than I'd like, if I can help it. The Phillies play the Pirates here in Pittsburgh in June if you are a baseball fan.
  • Harvey Ramer
    Harvey Ramer Member Posts: 2,239
    Sounds like fun! Send me a PM and we'll see what we can arrange.
  • Mark Eatherton
    Mark Eatherton Member Posts: 5,853
    Isn't Ray Wohlfarth from Pittsburgh? Fire-n-Ice Heating and Cooling?
    It's not so much a case of "You got what you paid for", as it is a matter of "You DIDN'T get what you DIDN'T pay for, and you're NOT going to get what you thought you were in the way of comfort". Borrowed from Heatboy.
    Harvey Ramer
  • Harvey Ramer
    Harvey Ramer Member Posts: 2,239
    You are correct Mark. I forgot he was in Pittsburgh. Here is his website http://www.fireiceheat.com/

    Andrew, he can get you fixed up. Extraordinarily smart man Ray is. You should give him a call.
  • SWEI
    SWEI Member Posts: 7,356
    I did not know that either. My wife grew up in Dormont.
  • Andrew_8
    Andrew_8 Member Posts: 15
    Sorry for disappearing. My day job got real busy. I will give Fire-n-Ice a call, but they appear to be only commercial.

    I got a picture from the first contractor. At first glance, I don't see an air separator and the expansion tank is fed from the bottom, so I don't see how the air is removed from the tank.
  • RobG
    RobG Member Posts: 1,850
    Can you post the picture so we may critique it?