I currnetly have a Burnham RS-109 with a DOE HTG CAp MBH 98 rating and I am planning on installing a Weil_McLain P-WTGO-3L with an MBH of 114, are these two comparable? I have gotten several estimates on replacing my current unit and the prices I have been quoted seem way out of line $7000 if I pay cash. I can get the Weil-Mclain P-WTGO-3l with a beckett burner, new circulator pump and delivered to my home for just over $2000. $5000 labor seems alot of money to install this unit. I am pretty handy and have gone over the istallation instruction and it looks like I could easily install the unit. After I installed it I would have a professional come out and tune the burner.

 

I could see a total charge of 4.5 - 5K for this, but 7k is high. If it were me, I would do it myself too and have a pro adjust the burner. It isn't that complicated if you understand what you are doing. Lot of people would disagree I'm sure.

 

It is not $5k for just labor. There is a lot of fittings, piping, wiring, air seperator, maybe other relays and of course the knowledge of the proper piping method to best results and maintenence free operation.
Start with proper sizing. Do a heat loss first. You can do one, have the contractor do one or have one done online but do a heat loss. Size the boiler DOE output to the heatloss and apply the proper piping scheme. You may need boiler protection depending on the boiler chosen and your application.

 

The old boiler was probably oversized. The new one would be even worse. Read this, please:

http://forum.doityourself.com/showthread.php?t=361226

As rbeck said, there's a whole bunch more money in piping, valves and other components. Price that stuff out and you get to a grand or more real quick.

Then add the guy's cost of doing business: stocking his truck, paying his insurance, paying for training, maintaining his truck, buying tools, maintaining his equipment, paying his employees. All so when you call at 3am in January he can show up and get the system fixed before the house freezes up and the pipes burst. Point being that you are buying a service. And the lesson from that is to shop the contractor. Good ones are absolutely worth it. Bad ones, well... they ain't.

Is a boiler DIY? Sure. The water side (piping, controls) is not too hard in most situations. A skilled DIY-er who has taken the time to learn learn learn and plan plan plan and can execute execute execute can do an install as well as or better than many of the installers out there. Unfortunate but true. It's also true that a huge number of DIY installs go horribly wrong, or worse yet, work but pose either a short or long-term danger to the inhabitants of the house.

The fire side is another matter. Gas piping, gas combustion, oil combustion, venting, and all that require well-maintained, expensive equipment and the training in how to use it. Do I know DIY-ers with that equipment and those skills? Sure. They are small in number.

If your DIY install goes wrong and you flood the house or blow it up, how would your insurance company treat it? Are you covered?

Will your local jurisdiction sign off on a DIY install? Some do, some don't.

If your DIY install needs service, do you have a competent service guy (or gal) who is willing to "own" the boiler for setup and ongoing maintenance? Think about it from their perspective. Some guys don't mind, others won't touch it.

Just some stuff to think about before dismissing a price tag and grabbing a wrench.

 

I understand that the contrator has to make a living, but over $5000 for a 1/2 to 3/4 day job is totally unrealistic. The price quotes I was getting were for cheaper boilers then the one I decided to go with. I know all too well about bad dishonest contractors, the last guy I was dealing with would call every couple months telling me it was time for my annual service. The same guy started delivering heating oil so I decided to give him a chance, he gave me a price quote per gallon over the phone and came out and delivered oil that day and charged me 60 cents more per gallon then what he had quoted and denied he ever gave me the quote over the phone,that wasthe last time I spoke to him

 

Well then, keep shopping 'til your happy, or DIY.

You really should do a heat loss and figure out what size boiler is actually required. 114 mbh would heat three houses in my neck of the woods (northeast US).