Oil Boiler Recommendations

[earlburnermann]

I have a few estimates for replacing my oil boiler and need soem help choosing. The two I am most seriously considering are comparable in price. One is for a Bryant BW4 and the other is Weil McLain WGO4. (I also had an estimate for a Peerless but I don't have the model handy.) Which one should I go with and why?

Are there other reasonably price oil boilers I should consider? I think Buderus and higher end units are probably out of the price range I am willing to pay, but feel free to try to convice me otherwise.

Thanks for the advice.

The Bryant boiler is actually a EW Empire II Water Series Boiler made by Dunkirk. It's a great boiler. So is the Weil Mclain. The Peerless is most likely a WBV/WV series boiler. Hopefully the boiler you purchase will be fired by a Riello burner. Buderus is a good system too. But I aggree they are overpriced. I installed a Baisi boiler in my home, with a Riello burner and phase III indirect water heater. The trick is to try and have a system installed that fires on demand rather than one that maintains temperature. It will save you on stand by loss. Another very important point is to have a heat loss calculation preformed so that you don't by a system that is bigger than you need.

[Joehvac25]

How are crown boilers? I thought I was up on oil fired equipment but I am hearing about some different stuff. Most of the time people switch to propane or natural here.

[kangaroogod]

As stated above, the Bryant boiler is made by Dunkirk and is a descent boiler. I would personally put it above the Weil McLain. They both are vertical sectional boilers that use pretty tight pin spacing to allow better heat transfer. They both can become soot monsters. The Weil McLain can had refractory issues over the years as it is more of a skinnier shorter flame design. The buderus is a 3 pass boiler and uses horizontal sections. They are 3 pass boilers, European designed, and the cast iron has silicon formulated into the metal which allows for better expansion and dramatically reduces the chance of casting failure related to thermal shock. Maintenance is considerably easier. If you were investing $100 in a new pair of shoes I would say take your chances. I am sure up will be investing upwards of 50x that cost and you are investing in apiece of equipment that will last you 30yrs. Just my $.02

[Joehvac25]

This spring I split a weil McLain and it was basically plugged, there too hard to brush out and have poor access in areas. I like the crown 4 pass, almost enjoyable to maintain.

[earlburnermann]

How are crown boilers? I thought I was up on oil fired equipment but I am hearing about some different stuff. Most of the time people switch to propane or natural here.

Crown, New Yorker and Dunkirk are all owned by the same corporation but operate independently. I a haven't seen too many Crowns out in the field over the last few years but they are still quite active. They had a seminar on their condensing boilers about a year ago at Suffolk County Community College and had a truck outside with live units that we could check out.

[SolarMike]

Why is it no one even mentions Viessmann. same price as the buderus and beautiful to clean and service and very efficient. None of the American oil boilers are newer than 1950s technology and i don't know anyone who actually likes cleaning a WM, Dunkirk, Slantfin etc.