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Posted by Shadowz on August 10, 2004 at 07:40:06:
I'm currently looking to get a new boiler. I had one heating and cooling company over yesterday for a free estimate. He did not do any types of measurements of the rooms or anything, and said he generally only does that with a signed contract. He also stated he has installed many boilers in homes similar to ours and generally has a good idea of the correct size of the boiler that I may need. We then talked about Bryant boiler possibilities which seemed to be a joke to him I guess. He said Bryant and a few other companies buy boilers from an original boiler manufacture and then stamp their name on it. He then named off 2 of the best boiler manufactures in his opinion Weil-Mclain being 1 of them. I can't remember for the life of me what the second name he named off was. I stated I had been looking previously at a Weil-Mclain boiler a few months earlier on the internet. He then pulls out his Weil-Mclain information. So it came down to 2 type of boilers a CGi which can be vented out the side of the house or up the chimney and a CGa which vents out the chimney. He stated that just from the look of my chimney it's in bad shape and may need repaired and a liner installed. I don't think I have a liner currently I could be wrong, I have to really give it a good looking over, but my boiler is over 35 years old. He then went down to the basement to look at my boiler. He gave me a rough estimate of about $4000 with the CGi model venting to the outside. He still has to get back with me about an actual total cost with discounts and what have ya. Does $4000 sound around ballpark. I may get other estimates, but I do like this guy just from talking with him from our initial contact. This company is a member of the BBB and has been in business since 1979. Any feedback would be great.
My next concern is the chimney. If I go with a boiler that vents outside I'm not sure how far the vent would stick out the house. This vent would be in a alleyway that's little bigger than normal size side walk with just enough room to fit my push lawnmower through. I don't want that side of the house to be to obstructed that I can't get through to mow the front yard. Should I go about fixing the chimney, some of the bricks are clearly getting loose. It has survived some very wind storms as of late, but I'm sure there maybe a time when it will not hold and bricks come falling down. If I have the chimney fixed at this time should I just go ahead and have a liner installed. Any advice would be appreciated thanks.