Way off topic...boilers

Talk about anything at all

Moderator: john

Post Reply
Message
Author
User avatar
TheBearAk
Posts: 101
Joined: Thu Mar 19, 2009 5:11 pm

Way off topic...boilers

#1 Post by TheBearAk »

I'm looking to replace my 1980's Burnham boiler with something a little more modern and efficient.

The problem I have is looking online for reviews is very muddied up with advertising and I just don't see any definitive site that points out good and bad. Plus, many of the reviews include boilers that are only available in Europe.

I know asking the local supply companies I'll get a lot of biases, and even contractors get biased to some extent.

Current boiler is about a 140k BTU, which is fine for my house, but I'd like to go slightly larger in case I ever add on another garage or room. (I've been dreaming of a small garage for snowmachine stuff)

Anyone else go through the process of replacing a boiler? Any suggestions on which boiler to get?
1996 Skidoo Touring E 380
1995 Skidoo Summit 583

larry morris
Posts: 198
Joined: Fri Jan 18, 2008 5:42 pm

Re: Way off topic...boilers

#2 Post by larry morris »

TBA,
I had mine replaced by someone here at my work. He has a small company that does boiler work and other plumbing. I recommend him. He does have a favorite boiler but, installs many of the other brands. I have a gas main in my front yard and connected to natural gas with a condensing boiler. Probably not available to you. I would also take a close look at the size of boiler. That would require a heat load calculation, not difficult. 90% of all boilers installed in FBK are probably oversized and some badly oversized. This means you are keeping a high mass boiler heated and the boiler cycling more than necessary. This causes excessive oil usage.

If you are interested, I can give you his name and #.

User avatar
TheBearAk
Posts: 101
Joined: Thu Mar 19, 2009 5:11 pm

Re: Way off topic...boilers

#3 Post by TheBearAk »

I'm more of a hands on type of person. Helped a friend put a gas boiler into his house and when the guy came over to inspect the system before turning on the gas, he asked who the contractor was, when we told him we did it he said that it was done better than most contractors. I think this was mostly due from us doing ourselves, we saved the cost of labor, but put more into the actual system.

I just don't have much information on new technologies. Older boilers were/are very basic simple devices. Blower, pump, nozzle, and chamber. Really not much to them. The newer ones are pretty simple too, but the controllers are more complicated.
1996 Skidoo Touring E 380
1995 Skidoo Summit 583

Post Reply