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Tankless or Indirect?

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Rhode Island

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
I am new to this site and have never posted on a forum so I hope I am posting this in the correct place.

I bought my house in Rhode Island two years ago and found out that I have a leak in the block of my Burnham V8 Boiler. Burnham is willing to give me a 650.00 credit to buy a new boiler however I have requested quotes from two different installers and both do not deal with Burnham.

Both installers are recommending a slant fin boiler. One installer says that I will save a lot of oil by getting rid of my tankless water heater and going with an indirect water heater because I could have my new boiler be a cold start during the spring, summer, and fall.

The second installer agrees that it is cheaper to heat hot water using an indirect water heater however says that it will take 15 to 20 years to save enough money using an indirect to justify the added expense of installing one.

Also does anyone know if Burnham has fixed the problem with the leaking boiler? I have been told that there was a defect in the manufacturing process an that is why they are offering a rebate. Should I look into purchasing another Burnham? The installers I talked to told me they have not dealt with Burnham for a long time because of the problems with the V7 and V8 boilers.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I am trying to get this replaced soon as possible.
 
#6 ·
First, read the attachment. While it is geared more toward ducted systems, the need to find a qualified company that voluntarily does a room-by-room load analysis cannot be over stated.

Next, when it comes to oil boilers, find a company that will provide quotes on a low mass oil boiler. Low mass means a boiler that is constructed of something other than cast iron or boiler plate and one that has a small water content. The low mass boiler will, just by virtue of eliminating the weight of a heavy boiler, reduce your oil consumption considerably. Next, be sure that the boiler going in will have some sort of temperature reset or energy manager. The inclusion of such a control will lower the oil consumption more.

A good low mass boiler to use, if as nothing more than a benchmark, is the System 2000. We've installed them and had customers report between 40 and 60% savings over their old high mass oil boilers. In fact, one man kept very close records, reported 62% savings over an compact, high mass oil boiler.

The System 2000 comes with an Energy Manager in all cases.
 
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#7 ·
I will never install another Burnham boiler because of the V7 or v8 LEAKERS and their prorated warranty.
Buderus or Viesman a System 2000 you will be locked into dealing with a small amount of dealers that can get parts or stock parts at least around here that's the case. So if your oil company usually the dealers of these yellow pieces of **** charges you $$$ for oil and you want to split from them you may find yourself with a unit only they have parts for so your stuck
 
#9 ·
Danimal535 said:
I will never install another Burnham boiler because of the V7 or v8 LEAKERS and their prorated warranty.
Buderus or Viesman a System 2000 you will be locked into dealing with a small amount of dealers that can get parts or stock parts at least around here that's the case. So if your oil company usually the dealers of these yellow pieces of **** charges you $$$ for oil and you want to split from them you may find yourself with a unit only they have parts for so your stuck
Click to expand...


Buderus parts are a problem? Its just a riello and a block!

Get a little Buderus G115 install a stainless steel indirect with Tekmar outdoor reset, it should be your last boiler.
 
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#12 ·
The answer to your question is to find the best contractor and use his boiler.You'll be a lot happier,he will be a lot happier and you will have someone with the parts and knowledge to keep your boiler alive for years and years.
Now here is a secret.You save the most by having the right size heating unit.After you have had a room by room load calculation done and have the right size then you look at the AFUE ratings of the boiler for further savings.
I would reccomend you get an indirect water heater as I believe there are hidden cost savings with them.
Here is another couple of things .Zone with circ pumps.They cost the same as zone valves and if you lose a cir you only lose a zone and not the whole house.Also I am remembering too many times when I had to spend the best part of a night draining ,fixing,filling and bleeding a boiler because who ever installed the boiler was too cheap to install valves on each side of the differant componants that you have on a boiler.Valve everything because my hourly charge will not make your wallet happy at all.One more thing.demand that a Spirovent system be part of a new boiler.It is only as bit more than a normal air eliminination system but ten times better.
 
#15 ·
Rhode Island said:
I am new to this site and have never posted on a forum so I hope I am posting this in the correct place.

I bought my house in Rhode Island two years ago and found out that I have a leak in the block of my Burnham V8 Boiler. Burnham is willing to give me a 650.00 credit to buy a new boiler however I have requested quotes from two different installers and both do not deal with Burnham.

Both installers are recommending a slant fin boiler. One installer says that I will save a lot of oil by getting rid of my tankless water heater and going with an indirect water heater because I could have my new boiler be a cold start during the spring, summer, and fall.

The second installer agrees that it is cheaper to heat hot water using an indirect water heater however says that it will take 15 to 20 years to save enough money using an indirect to justify the added expense of installing one.

Also does anyone know if Burnham has fixed the problem with the leaking boiler? I have been told that there was a defect in the manufacturing process an that is why they are offering a rebate. Should I look into purchasing another Burnham? The installers I talked to told me they have not dealt with Burnham for a long time because of the problems with the V7 and V8 boilers.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I am trying to get this replaced soon as possible.
Click to expand...
do you get the credit only if you buy another burnam?
for your domestic hot water, it would depend on your demand for hot water. how many showers, loads of laundry? any teenaged girls in the house?
 
Discussion starter · #16 ·
Thanks for all the quick replies! Both installers took measurements and told me that I would need around 78000btu and they are both suggesting units around 100K BTU, Is this so that it is big enough to supply hot water too?

The credit is only if I purchase another Burnham unit with I am not opposed to if the MPO does not have the same leaking issues. The only problem is I can't seem to find an installer that works with Burnham. My Oil company said that they believe the Burnham MPO is a good boiler and they would be able to service it but due to past issues with the company they do not install for them. I have tried the Burnham web site to find an installer but I get a "page not found error" and my phone calls have not been returned yet. Does anyone know an installer in the RI area?

Also I am a little confused so forgive my ignorance by asking this question. The slant Fin I was quoted on is rated at 86% and the Burnham MPO and Buderus that many on this site suggest I believe are around 87%. Is that small difference in efficiency worth the extra money the Buderus and MPO cost or are there other reasons not many suggest the Slant Fin.

I have looked online and haven't found many reviews good or bad about Slant Fin boilers.

Thank you everyone for your comments.
 
Discussion starter · #17 ·
Oh yeah, I forgot to answer your question. We are a family of 3 and with our existing tankless we have not had any problems getting enough hot water through out the year. The only reason I am thinking about going indirect is because I am told that I can have the boiler temp turned down during the summer and I am told that will save on Oil. However some have told me that the savings will not out weigh the additional cost of parts and labor to have it installed.
 
Discussion starter · #19 ·
snuppytcb,

I hot water is currently supplied by a tankless coil in the leaking boiler so I have no choice but to replace it, I'm just trying to find the best solution because hopefully this one will last longer than 9 years....

Thanks for all the replies.
 
#20 ·
If your already set up for indirect, Id stick with it. Also if the $650 only goes toward another burnham Id stick with Burnham too. I guess Im the lucky one here, but 75% of the boilers we install are Burnham and I haven't had a major problem like that with any of them. Im not a big fan of their LE series boilers. Although I am liking the Buderus boilers more and more.
 
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