Quote:
Originally Posted by BroadHopper
I beg to differ. There are about 100 units in my HOA. All were built in the mid to late 70's. All were equipped with the latest European 'suitcase' state of the art boilers at the time. Built in Scandinavia they were extremely reliable and efficient. After 35 years, they start to wear out and parts are hard to find. Most of the problems during the 35 years are attributed to the plumbing and not the boilers.
Most if not all the replacements are condensing boilers. Any complaints in the last few years were from faulty installations, faulty zone switches, and circulators. They have nothing to do with the boiler manufacturers. They are added on by HVAC. Seems like the add ons are giving the boiler manufacturers a bad rap. In fact my HVAC guy even told me that when I had concern about the quality of the Rinnai. Talked to a number of Rinnai owners that had their unit for a decade or more have confirmed this fact.
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From what I've seen that hasn't been the case. Many circuit board issues. None of the issues have been related to installation. Many more problems than a regular gas boiler. My best friend and my brother inlaw both had them installed in their homes and both have had problems and one had to be replaced after only 5 years. I'm not sure what brand they have, I believe they were Navien, but both are regretting their decisions to install them. Unlike oil fired boilers, regular gas fired boilers almost never need servicing. I built a new house about 10 years ago, which my son now owns. I installed a regular gas boiler with external hot water storage tank. That unit has not been touched since installation while my friends have all had multiple issues with their suitcase style units that are newer.
I see the attraction of not having a dedicated space for a boiler and hot water tank where this unit does both and just hangs on the wall out of the way. And builders love them because they don't need expensive chimneys cutting down the costs of a new house. But I wouldn't install one in my house unless I had limited space issues.