Trust me on this one. You’re never prepared for the day your boiler breaks down. It will be the coldest day of winter and you’ll be freezing your arse off. You’re going to put in ANY boiler the heating contractor can get you ASAP.

Do your research! Bookmark this page. Compare boilers now so you know which one you may want to go with when that dreadful day comes. Because unless you have a new boiler, it will come, my friend. Oh, it will come. And you’ll be sorry if you don’t heed my advice.

If you don’t have a plumber or heating contractor, get in touch with a few and ask which products they recommend. Ask friends for referrals. We needed to replace our boilers immediately in two separate homes. We were stuck looking in the yellow pages both times. We were lucky that the contractors were good, but we had to go with the boilers that were available on each occasion.

AFUE=Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency. The ratio of heat output of the furnace or boiler compared to the total energy consumed by a furnace or boiler. The higher the number the better. Basically, something with a 90%+ AFUE rating would be energy efficient. There are other factors to consider when choosing a boiler. Please read the linked articles, as it gets too technical to cover everything.

Energy Star
Government Consumer Guide
ACEEE Consumer Guide
Keyspan offers rebates up to $800!
Thomasnet lets you compare boiler manufacturers.

Related: Energy Incentives