I'm getting quotes on a new boiler. Our current HB smith is 17 years old and
has alot of corrosion between the 4th and 5th plates. I'm told it could last
1 month or 5 years??? Also the tankless coil needs replacing. The boiler is
in a crawl space so the size is an issue.
17 years ago there was no internet to do any research but now I've been
looking up these boilers.
of course they all praise their own products. I'm hoping one of you may have
an opinion for the following quotes I've recieved so far.

Thanks for any input

Steve

********************************

Medway Oil

H.B. Smith 8-T-4 with Riello F40 burner $4,800 + $1,700 (labor) =
$6,840 total
or
Thermo Dynamics CWL-LE (its own burner?) $4,300 + $1,750 (labor) =
$6,325 total


*********************************************

Petro / Deblois oil

Burnham V83WTB $5,433 total


*********************************************

Coan oil

Dunkirk Ultimate PFO3T with Becket AFG burner $5800 total
(Burner options? Beckett - Carlin - Riello)

In article , "steve" wrote:
I'm getting quotes on a new boiler. Our current HB smith is 17 years old and
has alot of corrosion between the 4th and 5th plates. I'm told it could last
1 month or 5 years??? Also the tankless coil needs replacing. The boiler is
in a crawl space so the size is an issue.
17 years ago there was no internet to do any research but now I've been
looking up these boilers.
of course they all praise their own products. I'm hoping one of you may have
an opinion for the following quotes I've recieved so far.

First and most important: did *any* of the companies do an actual heat loss
calculation on your house?

About six years ago, we had our boiler replaced. It was (apparently) the
original unit, a 450,000 BTU Weil-McClain. We got estimates from five
different heating contractors -- four of whom went from room to room,
measuring the lengths of the baseboard heaters, and concluded that we needed a
boiler in the range of 300 to 350 KBTU.

The fifth guy walked around *outside* the house, measuring walls and windows,
ran a heat-loss calc, and bid a 175 KBTU system.

The thing is, the original system was waaaaaaay oversized, and most of the
contractors were basing their bids on what was in the house already. The fifth
guy based his bid on a calculation of what was actually needed, and it was
*much* less expensive -- and it works, too. We have *never* had a problem with
insufficient heat.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.

"steve" wrote in message
...
I'm getting quotes on a new boiler. Our current HB smith is 17 years old
and
has alot of corrosion between the 4th and 5th plates. I'm told it could
last
1 month or 5 years???

Medway Oil

H.B. Smith 8-T-4 with Riello F40 burner $4,800 + $1,700 (labor) =
$6,840 total
or
Thermo Dynamics CWL-LE (its own burner?) $4,300 + $1,750 (labor)
=
$6,325 total

Are you near Medway, MA. Give a call to Peak in Uxbridge, MA. They install
heating systems and have no vested interest in selling you oil. You may get
a better evaluation on repairability of your present system.

Doug Miller wrote:

The fifth guy walked around *outside* the house, measuring walls and windows,
ran a heat-loss calc, and bid a 175 KBTU system.

It would be nice to hear of a sixth guy offered to do a blower door test.
Air leaks might be half the heat loss in a typical US house.

Nick

Are you near Medway, MA. Give a call to Peak in Uxbridge, MA. They
install
heating systems and have no vested interest in selling you oil. You may
get
a better evaluation on repairability of your present system.

Yes, We will give Peak a call!

Everyone who came out said the old system was over sized! Even the one who
had installed the system 17 years ago.

Only one guy measured the rooms and windows.

Thanks for all the good points on proper sizing.

How about any input on different companies boilers and burners?

Is there much of a difference between mfgs?

One guy was pushing a steel boiler but I think a cast iron one would be
better?

Thanks

Steve