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.

Weil McLain high efficiency or not

tomklein11
tomklein11 Member Posts: 4
Per my request, I received quotes for high efficiency and standard Weil McLain.

I was quoted for a Weil McLain Model CGA-7-PIDN 150,000 BTU natural vent boiler and a Weil McLain Model ECO 155MBH SERIES 2 150,000 BTU 95% efficient Boiler.

I realize now that this forum is not to discuss prices, but suffice to say the price difference is relatively negligible to my surprise.

I have seen some stuff about HE not being as reliable, susceptible to errors, and that it won't last nearly as long.

If you were putting a new boiler in and your choice was between these two units, which would you choose and why or why not?

Thank you in advance for your advice.

(Wisconsin ranch, 2400 square feet, baseboard heat) The contractor is experienced in commercial
& residential with 30 plus years in our community).

Comments

  • EBEBRATT-Ed
    EBEBRATT-Ed Member Posts: 15,455
    First thing is you must do or have an accurate heat loss done. The boiler you are quoted are very likely way oversized.

    I have my own opinion on high versus standard efficiency boilers

    Others on here will have different opinions and they are all valid

    I vote standard efficiency. Easier to service & possibly longer lasting.

    If you go high efficiency it is even more important to get a first rate contractor that know the boiler and can service it
  • nicholas bonham-carter
    nicholas bonham-carter Member Posts: 8,576
    With baseboard heat, you may not have enough radiation to enable a modcon to operate in condensing mode, therefore erasing much of the savings-(have the installer check this out, as well as the heatloss of the house, to prevent too large a boiler from being installed).--NBC
  • Zman
    Zman Member Posts: 7,561
    How many lineal feet of baseboard do you have? If you multiply that by 550, you will know the max BTU your system can distribute. My guess is that the ECO70 is about right.
    "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough"
    Albert Einstein
    Solid_Fuel_Man
  • JohnNY
    JohnNY Member Posts: 3,226
    I very much enjoy the flexibility built into high efficiency boiler controls, but reliability is not to be ignored. Standard efficiency wins that title. Whenever possible, I like to split the load between two or more smaller HE boilers for redundancy and to ensure I'm frequently in condensing mode. But that adds up quickly and is cost prohibitive in many cases.
    Contact John "JohnNY" Cataneo, NYC Master Plumber, Lic 1784
    Consulting & Troubleshooting
    Heating in NYC or NJ.
    Classes
  • EricPeterson
    EricPeterson Member Posts: 211
    I had the some question when I replaced my boiler a few years ago. The potential energy-savings though did not seem likely based on chart like this one:

    My house has all cast-iron, baseboard + freestanding radiators, and heat delivery would not very often be below 140F, at which point the standard boiler I was considering (Burnham ES2) was just as efficient. In my case the Burnham was cheaper and also a much simpler design, so that is what I went with.
    Chart taken from here: https://mn.gov/commerce/media/blog/success-stories/?id=17-71392
  • Solid_Fuel_Man
    Solid_Fuel_Man Member Posts: 2,646
    I have had excellent results with the W-M ECO boilers. Very simple and well thought out.
    Serving Northern Maine HVAC & Controls. I burn wood, it smells good!