Should I choose the local guys or the HH guy who's >30 min away for my boiler replacement?

My honest answer starts with a question. How many problems are you planning on having? If you get a poor install that increases the chances of needing something. I shouldn't talk about dependability of my own system, lets just say it's been good (knock on wood). A cast iron steam boiler has very little that could actually go wrong with it, I personally would not factor in how far away the company was, I'd want the best install my money could buy because that will end up being the most important part. If some of the local are outright telling you things that you know are wrong, honestly, why even think about them? It won't get better when they start turning wrenches.

I'm not sure which HH contractor you are talking about so I can't comment directly on that. I can say, in my area, there is no one I would trust to walk into my house….ever. That's why I ended up doing my own. More recently I assisted with picking a contractor for a dual boiler replacement in a historic mansion owned by the Historical Society (I'm on the board). We hired someone from another state, the local "talent" was so poor. We aren't worried about response times, we are worried about proper install and dependability.

Choose wisely.

@ethicalpaul said: I installed my own boiler and I’m a wimpy computer programmer who had zero prior pipefitting experience. 

I have to agree with Paul on this. especially the WIMPY part. But all joking aside, Paul did a great job with his Beautiful Assistant (See profile Pic). Paul had made a study of his residential boiler and has ended up with some really informative videos. 

You may be able to handle your new boiler install with his help over video chat of some type.  You will need to get friendly with the local supply house and purchase the boiler from them in order to get someone there to help with all the fittings you will need for the install. 

I wouldn't mind helping you either.

Sometimes if you want something done right , you got to do it yourself.

EDIT:

https://www.velocityboilerworks.com/product/steam-boiler-piping-kits/

If you find a supplier that sells Crown Boiler (By Velocity Boiler Works in Philadelphia) they have a piping KIT that has all the pipe fittings and nipples you need to install that boiler properly. Just order the kit and put the pieces together like an Erector Set® or LEGO® project. Easier than you think.

I guess the answer is pick the best contractor that is willing to come to your home to do the job. If you are out if their service radius it seems that they are off the list of possible contractors.

Maybe get references and view some of their steam work.

Once the boiler is correctly installed, emergency troubleshooting is mostly straightforward. Bad gas control, bad ignition module, bad transformer, bad flame sensor.... There is really not that much to go wrong with a properly installed steam boiler. Things like proper maintenance, and cleaning, which are very important, can always be scheduled. To me, it's a no-brainer. I would really recommend stay away from a company that recommends bleeding steam radiators. That's like a cook telling you to put red food coloring into a recipe, to make it look blue.

Most times the boiler comes ready to go with the pressure controls, probe LWCO, gas valve, etc already installed. The magic is in the proper sizing of the boiler and the correct piping, like the header configuration, proper pipe sizing and the hartford loop.

Go with a HH guy and you are likely guaranteed to have it installed correctly to at least the minimum manufacturers recommendations and probably even better.

Any problem that arises will not be due to the install it will be due to the pre-mature failure of a device on the boiler that may or may not ever happen. Any local HVAC tech should be handle that.

Go with the local people and you are going to get the "I've been doing it this way for 50 years" install. The manual will never get read and it would be a miracle if it is installed even close to correctly. When the problems arise they will be due to the installation and you'll be running around in circles. And your boiler will probably be even more oversized and you'll be fighting short cycling and higher fuel costs for the next 30 years.

If the HH person says they will come….let them do it. For general maintenance or emergency repairs let the locals do it.

@Jack_alltrades The book "We got steam heat" made me think of you when reading your posts.

Its best to go to the store on this sight and read the description. It is tremendously helpful.

Most of my work was commercial which is different, but we had plenty of customers and installs and service that were a 2-hour drive one way and they were happy to have us.

Unfortunately for me I seemed to frequently be the long-distance guy. 35000 miles per year driving just the work van.

I'd suggest you start with doing an EDR survey of the system and then select the proper size boiler from that data. It's a simple task and we can happily assist as needed. This way when you have a conversation with the local guy that is one talking point you can be educated on. If they aren't going to size it properly, that is a big red flag for me. Many don't size properly and it's extremely important to do so.

Here's an anecdotal story from 2014 when my boiler failed. My old boiler had been running for well over 10 years with 2 burners removed. Those burners were sitting right on top of the boiler in plain sight. When I had one contractor come over for an estimate, he went down and looked at the boiler, checked all the radiators then left. I got the quote and he had a boiler that was bigger than the one I had if all the burners were installed. I have an EDR of 265 and he wanted to install a boiler rated at 408 sq ft, so massively oversized. That was the point I started looking at doing it myself and found this website.

Not trying to convince you to do it yourself, just giving you information to understand, don't assume these people know what they are doing. Don't assume they have educated themselves. Just don't assume. After the sizing you can make sure they put in the contract to install to manufacturers spec, that gives you leverage if they do something wrong. I also live in a town with virtually no talent in the trades in a state that didn't have state wide building codes until 2003, so I have serious trust issues. Our fire department is quite busy and frustrated though…that's not a joke.

If you go local with a typical HVAC company it wouldn't surprise me when you post the pictures here with copper header pipes, a bullhead Tee and an incorrect Hartford loop. The next question that is typically posted here are….what are my options to have the HVAC correct problems X, Y, and Z.

One solution is to tell the HVAC guy exactly how you want it installed….as if saying "follow the manual" isn't sufficient. And whether the tech says it out loud or internally he will say "Okay homeowner, I've been doing this for 50 years. I'll do it how I've always done it."

Then you'll spend countless hours stressing about it, learning what should have been done differently/correctly and then spin your wheels trying to get it fixed or paying another company to fix it properly.

Often times the 30% difference for having a qualified steam pro to do the work will be the same cost as a poorly installed system that needs additional fixing or may even be cheaper in the long run. And no headaches.

Pay once, cry once.