An efm boiler would fit your needs. They have a time-honored warranty and the horizontal tube models (triple pass) are well built and easy to service.

Checked their website and no dealers even remotely close to me. Any other suggestions?

direct vent? is your current one using a chimney? what really matters if the btu's. If not sized properly it will not do the job properly and waist energy. how many zones do you have. I am a weil-mclain person so i would go with the ultra oil and indirect water heater with an outside sencor to control the water temp. this is the latest is home energy savings.
A quick example would be............... when its 0 degress out you want your water to run at 180 degree's to give max. BTU's, but whits its 55 degree's and you just want to take the chill out of the house the watwer may run at 120 degree's.
I am a weil-mclain guy like I said so I would go with the ultra oil with the ultra indirect water heater...........
One more thing the what do you mean by indirext vent. do you mean a condensable boiler. if so as far as i know there is no oil boiler thats condesable. Are you currently usuing a chimney?

I am currently using a chiminey. Apparently the liner in fireplace is starting to go. We do not use the fireplace (except for venting boiler). I was thinking a direct vent would bypass the chiminey, thus saving me the hassle of new boiler & having to get chiminey repaired. If I have to I will get the chiminey repaired.

We have 5 zones.

Indirect water heaters work well for large amounts of hot water use, but most people get along just great with the tankless coil.

hereÂs what I would do, go with the ultra oil and the taco pumps you will need an extra zone for the water heater. Your pumps will probably by 007. Or the GRUNDFOS pumps. I would go with the grundfus pumps, by it with the check valve. Put quick fills and purging on each zone. I would use the chimney and get it relined and with todayÂs technology the relining is not a guessing game so everything will be done right. And safe and most efficient. Do not forget too use a taco board for the zones with the out door sender on it...

The Ultra Oil is Weil McLain? I looked on their website. Very impressive boiler. In fact it was one that I was considering. Do you think the electronics are too complicated that I might have issues a few years down the road? The last thing I want is to have to replace a fried circuit board in the middle of a cold snap. That could be expensive.

I am looking for a bullet proof boiler. Does the Ultra Oil fit that description?

listen , nothing is ever guareeenteed, you could by a 2007 car right now and have problems. In my 9 years of installing, i onlyhad to go back once for the condensation pump wasn't working right and it always shut a furnace down............................
other then that i never had any problems with my installation. where doo you live, ar e you any where near ewr airport in nj

I live on Long Island...Suffolk County. About 60 miles East of NYC. And yes I know nothing is ever guaranteed, but I like to do my homework before calling the contractors. That way I don't waste their time. I respect the fact that they don't get paid driving to my house and giving me estimates. Less frustrating for all of us if I have as much info as possible beforehand.

I used to work freelance and I know the feeling of not getting paid until the contract is signed and final payment when the work is done.

George?.......... Again?........You're shameless

ofcorse i am shameless but hey its my only form of advertisment , i installed 3 pool heaters this year so far.
Like the rock says shut up and know your role. im not here to fight just advice people i never scame anyone and my work does speak for itself which you never seen.
by the way did you find anything wronge in my posts

Don't they make boilers like they used to? I have seen some 45+ years old and still doing well. I suppose maintenance is important.

The life of a quality boiler can be long. Things that kill a boiler are the introduction of oxygenated water which will rust it to death, and subjecting it to temperature extremes; they sometimes leak when they cool off. Overfiring will also ruin it. Any leaks should be repaired right away.

I have 2 contractors coming today to take a look and work up a quote. At the end of the day I just need a boiler that works and hot water. Not too complicated. Thanks for all of your advice. I will keep you posted as to what I wind up doing.

OK 2 quotes so far......both for Peerless WBV4 with riello burner.

QUOTE #1 with 60 Gallon Superstor Ultra Indirect water heater
$6500, or $7500 with chiminey liner. Includes installing fire retardent sheetrock on ceiling to bring up to code

QUOTE#2 with 45 Gallon indirect water heater $7100

Do these prices sound reasonable???

For the NY market, they are reasonable.

I'd like to add that the liner may or may not be necessary. If your chimney temperature stays above 350º, you won't need a liner. But even the price of the liner isn't really outrageous. Don't local codes address this?

Be sure you have, in writing, exactly what is included in the package.

Thanks everyone for all your advice!!!

The installation was done on Wednesday. I think they did a really good job. Nice and neat, well thought out. Removed all the old parts, repositioned new boiler to a better place in boiler room. Crew of 4 came in at 10:30am and finished up around 8pm. By the way I went with quote #1 from my previous post.

The installers could not have been more professional! I will try and post before and after pix when I get home from work this morning. Can I post the here or should I post to a hosting site? Any suggestions?

Thank you everyone for your suggestions and input.

Here

I much prefer to upload my FULL sized photos to Photobucket.com,
then just copy the "Tag" Just Below each photo on your photobucket
page. Next paste that "Tag" into the message (right here) in the body
of the post on GardenWeb.
You can also do multiple Pic's in the same post. Simple and
no resizing and you can see your pictures when you preview the
post before you click the "submit message" button.

HTH
Chris

Don't paste it on the link box below the post, just put it right in
the message above or below your post.