Gas Boilers

[ArnieZ]

I'm going to replace the bolier in our home this summer. This was originally fueled by the available energy tax credits. As I looked into it it seems that the cost for the highest efficiency boilers vs the energy payback and potential lack of reliability is not worth it. I am told that the super efficient Munchkin boilers ae controlled by electronics that are expensive to replace and not proven in reliability.

The heating guy has recommended a Buderus boiler, a brand I'm not familiar with.

So, am I being proprerly advised re the super efficient boliers? Is Buderus a good choice , are there others I should consider? I have to vent out the chimney, not directly thru an exterior wall.

Any advise appreciated, Thanks in advance

ArnieZ

[Crwth145]

I did res/com hvac/ref for many years, and still do some sidework on occasion.

Condensing boilers are the higher efficiency models, but even today's conventional boilers are a big improvement over most older equipment.

IMEO, higher efficiency model furnaces/boilers have almost always been a little more difficult and expensive to install, troubleshoot and repair. Definitely more there to go wrong.

I'm assuming you're burning fuel oil instead of NG since you're in Connecticut. I have little experience with oil and none with Buderus, but you should do alright if you get a good install/set-up and use the correct quality recommended burner. If you're burning NG, you should be fine a good long time before needing any maintenance as long as there isn't a lot of dryer lint, pet hair, etc in your combustion air impacting on your igniter and plugging up your burners. These materials can cause igniters to crack/fail and prevent gas from igniting across burner flanges/lighting all burners, causing the flame sensing safety circuit to recycle the ignition sequence a pre-determined # of times until the furnace/boiler shuts down completely. Learning how to do simple/preventative maintenance yourself will serve you well.

Here's some online info...

Buderus Boiler Profile

Reviews

Good Luck!

[ArnieZ]

Crowth,

Thanks for the reply. definitely burning natural gas. Am leaning towards a Weil-McLain bolier, a friend's family owns a plumbing suppy co and will cut me a great deal om one of those. Weil-McLain is a name I know, supposd to be very good units.

ArnieZ

[kenjones]

Does your local building code allow venting a natural gas boiler through the chimney? We don't have boilers down here in Texas, but I do know that in Houston you are not allowed to vent a natural gas water heater through the chimney.

[ArnieZ]

Mine is currently vented thru the chimney, the direct vent ( thru the wall) units are more efficient.

ArnieZ

[kenjones]

Our gas water heater used to be vented through the chimney. It was already like that when we bought the house in 1995. When the water heater needed to be replaced my plumber (an old friend who I trust - the plumber/drummer) told me that it was definitely not up to code.

We hired a general contractor last year. They have been extensively remodeling our entire house since January (!). We had the water heater replaced with a tankless water heater. They vented it straight up to the roof.

[Crwth145]

Maybe the question should be... is he using his chimney for anything else?

A lot of the homes here used to be heated by burning coal and have dedicated coal furnace chimneys incorporated into their design.

You can vent other exhaust up that chimney, but it's now necessary to sleeve the inside with metal venting in order to be up to code.