Two ways to heat a house.Neither is the winner.
One moves hot water, one moves hot air. Which suits your house depends mostly on what is already in the walls.
What is it doing?
Pick the closest. Takes about thirty seconds.
We come back with what actually failed, whether it is a part or the tank, and what each option costs. No visit needed to get that far.
Repair first
We do not condemn a water heater because of its birthday. Many have years left with an anode rod, a valve or a flush.
Flat upfront pricing
Quoted and approved before anything starts. No hourly meter, no line items added while we are in there.
Same day capable
A person answers the phone. Real arrival windows, and parts on the truck for the common faults.
What it is probably doing
A furnace heats air and blows it through ducts. A boiler heats water and moves it through radiators, baseboard or pipes in the slab. Both keep a house warm, and the arguments people have about which is better usually ignore the only question that matters, which is what your house is already set up for.
Converting between them is not a heating decision, it is a construction decision. So in practice the choice is made for you unless you are building or gutting.
House already has radiators or baseboard
You have a hydronic system. Replacing in kind is almost always right.
House already has ducts
You have forced air. A boiler conversion means new emitters throughout.
Radiant floor heat
This is hydronic by definition. A boiler is the only sensible source.
Building new
Genuinely open choice. Comfort favours hydronic, cost and cooling favour forced air.
You also want air conditioning
Ducts serve both. Hydronic needs a separate cooling system.
Allergies or dust concerns
Hydronic moves no air, which some households notice.
Tell us the symptom. We will tell you which one it is.
Get an honest diagnosisThe honest diagnosis
The same four steps on every call, whether it turns into a two hundred dollar repair or nothing at all.
Call or send the details
Age, symptom, and what it is doing. A person answers, not a queue.
Most questions answered on the callWe diagnose it
Serial read, symptom traced, tank checked. About twenty minutes.
You find out what actually failedYou get both numbers
Repair cost and replacement cost, side by side, in writing, with our recommendation.
Flat price, approved before we startWe do the work
Parts on the truck for common repairs. Replacement stock available same day.
Price does not moveIf we recommend a repair and the tank fails within a year, the repair comes off the replacement
We would rather be wrong at our own expense than sell you a water heater you did not need. Every install is warranted on parts and labour.
What it costs
Published, because you should be able to work out roughly where you stand before anyone comes to the house.
- Boiler repair $225 to $900
- Emergency no heat call $250 to $1,100
- Annual boiler service $150 to $325
- Boiler replacement quoted per system
Where you land in the range
The low end is a thermocouple or a thermostat. The high end is a gas control valve, or work that needs the tank drained and a fitting cut out.
We tell you which end you are on before the work starts, and the price does not move after that.
Five of these six are parts. One is the tank.
- 1Anode rod
Corrodes so the steel tank does not. Spent by roughly year five, and almost nobody replaces it.
- 2Dip tube
Carries cold water to the bottom. When it cracks, cold mixes at the top and the shower turns lukewarm early.
- 3Temperature and pressure valve
A safety device. If it weeps it is usually the valve or the expansion tank pressure, not the heater.
- 4Sediment layer
Hard water leaves scale on the tank floor, insulating the burner from the water. That is the rumbling.
- 5Drain valve
Prone to seeping once it has been opened after years of neglect.
- 6Thermostat and gas control
Governs burner and pilot. The usual reason a pilot will not hold.
Questions we get asked
Which is better, a boiler or a furnace?
Neither, in the abstract. Hydronic heat is more even and moves no dust. Forced air is cheaper to install and shares ducts with cooling. What decides it in practice is what your house already has, because converting is a construction project rather than a heating one.
Can I convert from a furnace to a boiler?
Technically yes, practically it means installing radiators or baseboard throughout and running new pipework. It is a remodel level project, and worth it mainly when you are already opening up the house.
Is hydronic heat more efficient?
It can be, particularly with a condensing boiler and generously sized emitters running at lower temperatures. But a modern high efficiency furnace in a well sealed house is also very good. The system design matters more than the category.
Do boilers last longer than furnaces?
Generally yes. There is less moving air, fewer moving parts in the heat path, and a well maintained boiler outliving a furnace is common. Both depend heavily on whether anyone serviced them.
We have radiators and want air conditioning. What are the options?
Usually a separate system, either a heat pump or a ducted or ductless cooling setup. That is the trade off with hydronic heat, and it is worth knowing before you commit either way.
Do you work on furnaces?
We work on water heaters and boilers. Furnaces are outside what we do, and we would rather tell you that than take the job and learn on your house.
Tell us what it is doing
Three questions. We will tell you whether this is a part or a tank, and roughly what each one costs, before anybody schedules anything.
Mon to Sat, 7am to 7pm. Emergency service available.
Most repair calls are seen the same day. Replacements are usually next day, sooner if the tank is leaking.
What most likely failed, whether it is a part or the tank, and what each option costs. In writing, before anything is scheduled.
Based in Ogden, UT. We come to you across nineteen cities in Weber, Davis and Morgan County.
No obligation, and no in home visit needed to get a straight answer. If it sounds like a repair on the phone, we will say so.
Related
Where we do this
- Ogden Weber County
- North Ogden Weber County
- South Ogden Weber County
- Roy Weber County
- Riverdale Weber County
- Washington Terrace Weber County
- Pleasant View Weber County
- West Haven Weber County
- Hooper Weber County
- Farr West Weber County
- Harrisville Weber County
- Eden Weber County
- Huntsville Weber County
- Clearfield Davis County
- Layton Davis County
- Kaysville Davis County
- Farmington Davis County
- Mountain Green Morgan County
- Morgan Morgan County
Find out what is actually wrong with it.
Tell us the age, the symptom and what it is doing. We will tell you whether this is a part or a tank, and what each one costs, before anybody schedules anything.