Looking to hire an electrician to install ceiling fans and can lights. Anybody have an outstanding electrician they would recommend? Thanks in advance!
Matthew W. replied:
Jim Avila, West Suburban electric, 630 777 9913 You'll love him!
Instead of a fuel generator for power outages (we have no wood stove and I'd rather keep it that way), I was thinking about solar. I know basic electrical, but also have...
Forced steam boiler just died, got a quote for little over $13k to replace, is this a fair price for Boston? Unfortunately I know very little about home heating systems....
tao54tao replied:
Not sure about steam but I had to replace my forced hot water system last year. I had my old oil boiler removed and a new super efficient gas boiler put in. Total cost was about $10K for the removal and install. I was able to get a $1500 rebate and 0% loan for the rest from Mass Save.
hvdc123 replied:
I paid about 12 k for a Burnham IN6 last year in Somerville without the auto feeder (forget how much extra that was).
riski_click replied:
[This](https://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/7 o7 zug/oil_to_gas_heating_conversion_cost/) thread is from today. Might help a bit.
jbsanders replied:
Late to the party but I had a boiler replaced for a 1500’ single family home for $6500. I’d shop around for another quote.
Anonymous replied:
Don't expect to pay much less for service from a qualified pro. If you do try to shop around you're probably going to end up paying just to have someone ring your doorbell...free estimates really aren't a thing in the plumbing world, especially this time of year.
Euphrates322 replied:
so sorry. My neighbor has an issue with hers and they were able to rebuild it. I am not sure what all that entailed but they literally took the whole thing apart and it was in pieces in the basement. Now it seems to work as good as new. The was an alternative to buying a new one which initially seemed to be the only option.
Anonymous replied:
I haven't paid for a furnace permit in Boston, however permits are not often a big part of the cost.
sheepjeepxj replied:
what type of boiler is the new unit? Is it one of those high efficiency wall mount units or it just a standard fair unit? How easy is it for the plumber to get access and do their work? Is it a cramped spot or is it wide open for them? Depending on the fuel type you can get a discount through mass save so look into that. Keep in mind also that this is a very busy time of year for plumber worse so no due to prolonged cold snap we are in so they are fielding lots of frozen pipes and busted heater calls and those all high priority type calls.
meatymeateater replied:
so it looks like you DON'T have asbestos on your pipes, so that's a good start. replacing in winter you're at their mercy but they should be quoting you the electrical costs too, which figure about $1000, including installing a hard-wired smoke/CO detector.
i would be concerned about your chimney, is it lined? Code requires it be lined these days so that could be like another $5k but just depends on how tall you chimney is, etc.
where is it leaking water? if it's at the heat exchange you just need to replace it. if it's some other spot you might be able to delay until summer, which would give you more options, better pricing. it's really not uncommon for old gas boilers to leak water on the floor do to condensation, etc.
for the Burnham steam unit that sounds expensive. I posted in the other thread but I had a forced hot water unit installed for $9k. boiler is about the same price--and same brand--but didn't require the steam water autofeed but that cost DID include electrical, 3" stainless duct, and oil tank removal. you're paying a winter emergency premium so if you need to do it now then that's not unreasonable. but if you can wait until summer you'll save money.
have them replace the vents on the radiators too. they're cheap.
Anyone know a good electrician, that is fairly priced or someone who knows how to work w/electricity? Ours is being very screwy right now...pm me if u know of...
Peter F. replied:
Bob Rowan at 1-708-423-5444Southtown Electric. Tell him you are a good friend of mine.
Joe C. replied:
Call Jeff Marcinkowski or talk to Jaime's hubby Brian McGuffage.