Viessmann Gas Boiler

[songkrai]

Originally Posted by Irish mist

Too much money & too many moving parts & Over-complicated IMO. Get a good Burnham for about 5K & you should be fine.

Love to read about all the high tech stuff out there. All sorts of claims of efficiency. Great if all works.

Here is the Munchkin story MUNCHKIN BOILER Munchkins claim to fame is size and high efficiency.

A friend purchase a fancy home on the big lake from a very well known lake house builder. The home was a hot air heated home with a boiler in basement/crawl space. The new owner set up all sorts of internet connections that would send to this iPhone anytime the heat went below a certain temperature. The first call came in November. Munchkin boiler stopped working. Owner calls the builder who in turns calls the plumbing contractor who installed the Munchkin boiler. Plumber comes and "fixes" boiler. A month later another call to iPhone as heat has gone below set warning. Another call to plumber as boiler stopped working. This time the owner of house states to plumber to purchase a 2nd Munchkin. Fix the first Munchkin boiler and place the 2nd in tandum/relay so that if one breaks the other will start up. A double safe/redundant way to prevent any problems with heat in winter. Now owner has two boilers. Then January he gets a call that both Munchkin boilers are not working. Owner calls the plumber. The plumber does not return the calls. Owner calls the manufacturer of Munchkin in East Freetown, Massachusetts. They tell him that the only contractor in this area that can work on his TWO Munchkins is the same plumber that will not return his calls. So owner states that he will remove both boilers and take down to East Freetown, Massachusetts and have the factory technicians fix the boilers. No, ain't gonna happen. The Munchkin factory in East Freetown, Massachusetts does not have any repair/diagnose technicians and that he cannot bring down there to be fixed. So now he has two boilers that no one can or will fix. And a temporay hot air propane heater in basement provided by the propane company.

Owner of new home (over the 1 year builders warranty) goes out and buys a Weil-McLain. And no problems after that.

So you folks that love cutting edge technology go right ahead. Maybe "Joe" the plumber will be there forever to fix your high tech boiler and you will have zero issues.

[lawn psycho]

Songkrai, Buderus has the factory training facility in *drum roll please*, Londonderry, NH. Yep.

You are referencing a different brand than what the OP is discussing.

This is also why you get an installer who knows the brands. No different than asking a Nissan mechanic to work on a Cadillac. He may know what he's doing but then again he may not.

My plumber who is contracted for all my builder's houses does extensive work with Viessmann and Buderus. About half my nieghborhood has one of these two brands. Zero problems.

Also, you can have the standard controllers and burners used on the contractor boilers so if they fail, brand doesn't matter. Your post also did not specify what failed. Odds are it was a controller or burner issue.

Any system is as good as the install.

For the OP, for S&grins I did a short search and the 100 series will satisfy most homeowners and much more palatable on the wallet. The 200 series is best of the best but if cost is an issue than consider the 100 series (or even a Buderus).

I highly recommend you call the folks at the link I provided and give them details of what you need, sq footage, house, insulation, etc. They can help you properly size the system as well.

I would poo-poo the naysayers

[songkrai]

This product may be the best invention since sliced bread.

And yes, there is an address in Londonderry, New Hampshire. That is very good to know.

But it appears that this is a foreign manufactured item. And it does appear that this company in one form or another has been around for 250 years. Another good thing.

But these days of mergers and acquisitions this product may or may not continue to be around. This is true for all items of course. But names like Weil-Mclain, Goodman, etc. seem to just be there all of the time.

And yes, Munchkin is not the item mentioned in this posting. I just used that one as an example of new modern high tech boilers.

I purchased one of the best instantaneous on demand hot water heaters. And it is a great unit. Works flawlessly for many years. This instantaneous on demand water heater is a Myson 325. The company is gone. There is no one to repair this water heater. There are no parts for this water heater. Yes, there is one company in Florida that does stock [U]some[U] parts but not many. When this water heater breaks down. There is essentially no one to fix it and no parts to fix it with. A great on demand water heater that will have to be thrown away when it breaks.

But back to the original post. Yes this unit may be the best thing since sliced bread. And yes there may be all sorts of resources to get this unit fixed when time comes to fix it.

[lawn psycho]

Originally Posted by songkrai

But it appears that this is a foreign manufactured item. And it does appear that this company in one form or another has been around for 250 years. Another good thing.

When it comes to HVAC and efficiency, the Europeans make us look like fools.

Viessmann and Buderus will be around for a looong time. They are used heavily in Europe.

[Irish mist]

songKrai I get what you are saying. I go by "the Roper theory" when I buy products: high quality & simple. Keep the electronic sensors & do-dads & extras off the machine if possible hence why I have had a Roper washer & dryer forever.

Same holds for a furnace IMO. I don't want to marry the "only" guy in central NH who can fix the product & hope I can get him when I need him. I would buy the best all-purpose bolier like a Burnham that anyone can fix & get parts for. The more complicted it gets the more it costs.

Check out some of the nightmare stories in this forum about high-end stoves.

[BroadHopper]

Wildwood Condo Development units originally came with Hydrotherm Celtic boilers. Hydrotherm dicontinue importing them in 1988, but sells them in the European market. Celtic boilers were the first mass produced efficiency boilers and by today's standards, are very efficient.

Most Celtics parts are still available. A number of owners opt to replace thier boilers with Munchkin. Seymour & Sons Heating & Air Conditioning does an excellent job of evaluating our heating assesment and repairing Celtics as well as installing Munckin boilers. Wildwood heats with natural gas so we may be an exception to the rule.

Seymour advises Viessmann and Buderus are good products, but for our units Celtics and Munchkins are just right.

Give Jeff Seymour a call for an honest opinion.

[jarhead0341]

Dgp are you just looking to do space heating or also domestic hot water? Also what are you using for radiation source- baseboar, radiant in floor, radiators? Tons of options when using gas and they all work good if set up correctly .