Gas boiler choices..

[rsutoratosu]

My oil boiler core cracked, was one of them burnham v7 series junk.. theres a class action lawsuit so it wasnt just me.

Doing the oil to gas conversion.

Choice 1 is Weil Mclain ultra 155 high efficient boiler 97%

Choice 2 is Weil Mclain CGi-6 - 84%

I have not explore other options but does the 97% really save you money or is it like one of those saves you 50 bucks a month, and your roi will be like 20 years.

The ultra 155 contractor wants 15k to convert. The CGi-6 contractor cost 7k.

So off the bat, its a huge price difference. This includes removal of tank, chaning the incoming gas from 75 to 250 btu, pipe, vent, etc.

 

[FoBoT]

http://www.yourmoneypage.com/energy/furnace1.php

How long would it take you to pay back the expense of junking your present natural gas furnace and getting a higher efficiency model?

Make an estimate with this calculator.

crap, i think that is just for forced air furnace, let find one for a boiler
maybe this will work?
http://www.ecofriendly.ie/boilerupgraderoic/boilerupgraderoic.htm

this one lets you compare to other fuel types
http://pelletheat.org/pellets/compare-fuel-costs/

i would have just said hi efficiency right away, but on the way to work i was listening to the financial news and they were talking about the glut of natural gas, how some places are just burning it off because they can't make any money shipping it/storing it, so i think that means natural gas prices are going to stay low for time

good luck

 

[jagec]

The ultra 155 contractor wants 15k to convert. The CGi-6 contractor cost 7k.

So off the bat, its a huge price difference. This includes removal of tank, chaning the incoming gas from 75 to 250 btu, pipe, vent, etc.

I hate it when they do that. The actual installation is more or less the same in both cases, and the high-efficiency units aren't THAT much more expensive, but installers just gouge people on the energy efficient stuff. They know that plenty of people don't run the numbers and just buy whatever is rated the highest.

Unless you have a huge house or keep the heat turned up really high, I don't see how the high-efficiency unit would be worth it for you with the price of gas likely to stay low for a while.

But make sure you check out any potential tax credits, utility rebates, other installers who might be cheaper, differences in warranties and coverage, etc., and run the numbers for your specific case.

 

[GregGreen]

Those Weil-McClain Ultra boilers are a nice unit for sure, but they require conversion from having one hot water loop to having a primary and secondary loop (which isn't that big of a deal, but it does explain some of the extra cost along with just spending more on a nicer boiler). Sidenote: If this isn't something in the estimate for the Ultra155, you need to rethink your choice of contractor as the block WILL crack without a primary/secondary setup and it will not be covered by Weil-McClain's warranty. Also, did you get quotes from each contractor for each boiler choice? Comparing different contractors AND significantly different equipment isn't the best way to look at it. Comparing differing brands of similar equipment between contractors is a lot different from comparing different classes of equipment from the same manufacturer between contractors.

Have you thought about going with a different brand of boiler? I know Dunkirk makes 90% and 95% boilers that don't require a primary/secondary loop and are a bit cheaper than the Ultra 155. You could have a good portion of the energy savings at a little bit lower cost.

Also, I'm not sure how much credence I would place in the link FoBoT pasted (NM, he updated his links while I was writing this). It's for furnaces, which are a much different beast than hot water boilers. Maybe someone like iGas can provide some more insight?

 

[GregGreen]

I hate it when they do that. The actual installation is more or less the same in both cases, and the high-efficiency units aren't THAT much more expensive, but installers just gouge people on the energy efficient stuff. They know that plenty of people don't run the numbers and just buy whatever is rated the highest.

Actually, the Ultra 155 isn't the same install as a low as allowed by law efficiency boiler install. The Ultra costs twice as much in equipment (not overestimating -- it easily costs the contractor 2-3 times as much to buy an Ultra as a cheap unit) plus more labor and materials to install -- I thought it was too high of a difference too, but then I thought about it for a little bit and realized its mostly justified (especially when you consider that he said the estimates were from different contractors).

 

[rsutoratosu]

Did some online pricing lookup, cgi6 is around 2500, ultra 155 is around 3500.

Its hard to find a contractor that understands the ultra 155. I have another quote coming, I found a plumber that does both, so Ill find out in a day or 2 on the install cost between the two from the same plumber.

 

[GregGreen]

Did some online pricing lookup, cgi6 is around 2500, ultra 155 is around 3500.

Were those from the same source online? When I stopped selling the stuff in 2010, there was a good bit more price difference between the two and that 3500 is quite close to the trade price whereas that 2500 is quite far from the trade price for a CGI-6 -- obviously things could have changed in two years, but that seems like it's a pretty extreme change.