As Long as We Have Plumbers Here.....

recDNA

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I need a new gas heating and hot water heater combo that includes a side vented blower. I don't want to deal with a separate water heater any more. I have no chimney. The heat is distributed by baseboard forced hot water system. I live in northern New England. It gets very cold in the winter.

I have no idea what the best brands are. Obviously, I want something dependable and low maintenance from a company that will still be around providing replacement parts for years to come.

I've had some estimates but I've never heard of the brands the plumbers recommended. Each plumber seems to only work with one brand so it's not like they offer choices.

I know my choices are limited by the fact I need a forced side ventilation with blower to get rid of exhaust gasses but I do not wish to rearrange my entire house to allow installation of a roof chimney.

Anyway, is there a particular brand you would recommend? Thanks for reading this and offering your suggestions!
 

Matrix 100

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more information is needed - what is the size of your current boiler or as you call it gas heater -

on the domestic hot water side - do you want a storage tank, or are you looking for on demand domestic hot water, with no storage

due you have a price range
 

recDNA

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I would like an on demand hot water system without a storage tank.
The plumbers felt my boiler was a little more powerful than my house requires. I wouldn't want to go a lot less powerful since this old boiler has kept every room in my home toasty even when temperature has been below zero F for several days in a row.
It's over 25 years old and everyone seems to agree it is time to replace it. I've also been told that there are no more replacements for the stand alone type gas water heater I have, perhaps due to new regs I don't know.

I'll spend what I have to. If you hold my feet to the fire I guess I would say 20k max for parts and full installation including carpentry to fix area around new vent and condensation pipes and removal or closure of old power vent exhaust through wall. Of course I would like to spend less but I need dependable heat and hot water.

Thanks for your help.

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Matrix 100

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Your price range sounds reasonable

No question for this type of set up you want something that is reliable
The top end of boilers are Viesmann a German company, but with the US head office in Road Island
I think they have a large presence in the New England area - which is good for you
Therefore a Vitodens 100 plus on demand domestic hot water set up may be the way for you to go
They have two boilers the WBIB 26 or WBIB 35 + combi Plus - both boilers would work for you
Going with the larger boiler should not cost much more ( I will check ), and it will let you sleep better, but probably not required

You also will find the contractor who installs Viesmann, probably will be more expensive with labour and parts as Viesmann are the spy 007 of the boiler world

If you want to post the names of the boilers which were recommended, I will make comments

Where in New England ???
 

recDNA

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I forget because I had never heard of them but I've never heard of Veismann either. The Vitodens comes with an internal blower for side exhaust?

Are there a couple of other good ones just in case or any brands to avoid? I don't want the Ultrafire of boilers if you know what I mean.
 
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Matrix 100

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More information

a Vitoden WB1B26 cost $ 2,650.00
a Vitoden WB 1B35 cost $ 2,960.00

Comb-plus DHW kit $ 710.00

these are Canadian dollars and are contractors net pricing

so the difference going with the larger boiler is app $ 300.00

the rest of the money is going to be in parts, labour, electrical, mark up, etc
 

recDNA

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Thanks again. $300 is a small investment compared to total cost. I also asked above if there are other decent brands and if there are any to avoid like the plague.

My concern isn't price. It is that I want to be sure the plumbers are very familiar with what they work on. For this reason I want to ask them some brands they suggest and see if any match yours. I will now know to ask about Veismann

Oh, and the water circulating pumps will need to be replaced also. I forgot to mention it is a 2 zone system.
 
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Matrix 100

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these three manufactures all carry a comb tankless domestic + heating boilers

Viesmann out of RI
HTP out of MA
Lockinvar out of TN

I wouldn't worry about you not being familiar with the names - these names are not common - but your contractor should be able to make comments

I live in Toronto with 3,000,000 people and probably only a handful of people have heard of cool fall spy 007

( 2 zones for heating - no contractor should have a problem with that )
 

recDNA

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I'm not as worried about the boiler itself as the built in exhaust vent blower fan and electronics that run it. When you mention a brand of "boiler" do you include all of these parts in your recommendation or are they made by a separate company and added onnto the boiler. I guess I don't know if the word "boiler" refers to the entire apparatus electronics and all or just the tank inside it?
 

Taz80

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I had a Lockinvar installed last fall. The blower ( if there is one ) and the electronics are contained in the unit. The zone valves and zone control unit are separate.
 

recDNA

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That is my entire concern. I have no chimney. Unit must vent through wall so it must have built in blower. Only a few do.
 

Matrix 100

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The boiler generates the hot water for your system - it has the electronics, fan, heat exchanger

Then the contractor needs to connect all your piping, pumps, zone valves, and exhaust pipe to make it work

All three boilers have a blower, it's part of the unit - these boilers are power vented, which requires no chimney

So what I was recommending was a wall hung condensing boiler, and power vented - top of the line
 
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