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I have the Burnham with separate water tank. NO issues yet. Only issue I had was the sensor on the tank burnt out after a power surge. I got that replaced under warranty and got a whole house surge protector installed.
I recently did a oil to gas conversion in TOB. My inspection was in the 2nd half of December and as others have stated, the inspector went into the basement, spent about 2-3 minutes, and was out the door. I wasn't under the impression they were on the lookout for unpermitted work
FWIW, i have a Burnham boiler (12 years old, and am still using as the unit i have can convert from oil to gas) and have very very rarely run low on hot water during a shower, so haven't had the need for a separate storage tank as yet. (and this is in a house with 6 people)
If you want to go with a combi tankless boiler, go with a Bosh. Much more reliable than the Navien. Definitely stay away from the Navien NCB-240 unit. Yes, my Navien has been very unreliable. Unit is only 4 years and had broke in the middle of winter every year. This Christmas Eve, the circulator pump went bad. Part was covered under warranty but labor was $700 to replace. No heat and hot water for 4 days. These next generation combi boiler are pretty much like computers now, displaying an error code when they break down. The plumper has to call Navien support to diagnose the error code and Navien support isn't 24 hours. Most plumbers have no clue how to work on these units. The ones that do, are very expensive. Annual tuneup will cost you $400 a year.
If i had to do it again, I would go with a traditional Burnham boiler with a separate hot water tank. Our winters aren't long enough to reap the benefits of the higher efficiency boilers compare to the cost of maintenance and to fix.
Thanks TMing for sharing your experience. I've heard similar complaints from others so may steer clear of the Navien. You meant Bosch right? I'll look into their tankless or maybe a tankless from Peerless (my current boiler is a Peerless WBV-series which has been with the house for quite some time, and the previous owner told me it's been quite reliable), or go the traditional route. I've also heard good things about Burnham, so if we go traditional, it would be on our shortlist.
Does anyone have a good website they use that reviews home heating/water boilers?
Yes Bosch. I have good experience with the Bosch KW 42.
Thanks. I'm starting to research now, and the following brands seem to be recommended often for Tankless:
Bosch
Rheem
Noritz
Rinnai
I'll also ask the installation companies I'm talking to for their recommendations. How do people feel about separate water heater and heater vs Combination units?
amamun3774, sorry for asking questions in your thread. If you prefer I make a new thread, I will. But I figure these questions may be relevant to this topic.
Anyone heard or used "IBC" tankless boilers? Got a quote from Stanley Gelber yesterday and it was honestly higher than I thought. I do recognize that we are looking to switch from traditional (hot water tank heater + oil boiler for heat) to tankless, which entails some re-doing of the pipes. But there are natural gas lines already ran to the boiler area so figured that would offset the cost some.
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