Installation Quote for an AHS 130

brckwlt · Post by **brckwlt** » Fri. Mar. 06, 2009 4:39 pm

this is my Installation quote for the brand new ahs-130 I want. or wanted

4900 dollars for it includes delivery installtion and parts. but 5 grand seems outrageous to me. am I wrong? all they are doing is putting the unit in my basement leaving my old ng boiler hooked up and and running new pipe and parts for the ahs-130. also allowing me to, at a flick of the switch run the ng boiler and use when I want. but holy hell my local plumber could work for 163 hours at the 30 dollars and hour he charges to put this in. I must be missing something.

quoted at 6650 for the ahs-130. belt drive water coil and thermo ash that seems reasonable to me

estimaqte.jpg

Post by **coaledsweat** » Fri. Mar. 06, 2009 5:38 pm

BrockWilt wrote:i must be missing something.

Me too, I would look for someone else to do the install.

brckwlt · Post by **brckwlt** » Fri. Mar. 06, 2009 5:44 pm

well now im looking into a refurbished unit and a much cheaper person or company to install a boiler. if anyone on the forum knows how to install a boiler, I might consider that as well

beatle78 · Post by **beatle78** » Fri. Mar. 06, 2009 6:00 pm

I paid ~$3800 for my installation, but that included ripping out all the boiler side plumbing. Moving the oil boiler to another flu, and hooking the boilers up in parallel w/ a primary/secondary like configuration. It was all new 1-1/4" Copper. That price also includes a TACO 4 zone controller, and a TACO dual stage controller w/ outdoor reset. The controllers alone were ~$800.

I did all the wiring.

I could have had it done cheaper, BUT I am doing a major renovation and I'm converting my house to all radiant heat. Including all the slab living space. That said, I hired 1 of 2 local guys that specialize in radiant heating. I told him to design this in such a way that when I have you back here this summer, it's already plumbed exactly how you want it so we can easily ad the Radiant zones w/o any rework of this system. I told him I didn't want to be told that 1/2 the work needed to change this summer.

The first guy came over once and never got me a quote or a time estimate even though I called him several times. So I didn't have another quote to compare it to.

I think your best bet is to buy the boiler you want (you can buy from AHS direct. I'm not sure what their current prices are) and have a local heating guy install it. Just tell him to install it like he would any other boiler and get over the fact that it's coal. Some guys get hung up on coal and need to be reminded that it's just a boiler.

You will be responsible for learning how to use and fire the coal boiler, but that goes without saying.

cArNaGe · Post by **cArNaGe** » Fri. Mar. 06, 2009 6:11 pm

Or do it yourself.

I never sweated a pipe til I bought mine.

Just pay the inspector when your done. If something's not right. He will tell you.

Bob · Post by **Bob** » Fri. Mar. 06, 2009 6:35 pm

BrockWilt wrote:this is my Installation quote for the brand new ahs-130 I want. or wanted 4900 dollars for it includes delivery installtion and parts. but 5 grand seems outrageous to me. am I wrong? all they are doing is putting the unit in my basement leaving my old ng boiler hooked up and and running new pipe and parts for the ahs-130. also allowing me to, at a flick of the switch run the ng boiler and use when I want. but holy hell my local plumber could work for 163 hours at the 30 dollars and hour he charges to put this in. I must be missing something.

quoted at 6650 for the ahs-130. belt drive water coil and thermo ash that seems reasonable to me
estimaqte.jpg

I suggest you ask that the quote be broken down--to separate the transportation/delivery to your basement, parts, labor and permits. I think you may be surprised at how much is included in the quote for the transportation/delivery and parts. I also believe that the quote has insufficient detail about what is to be done--there is nothing in the proposal about controls and to support your comment that the install will allow you to use the existing gas boiler "at the flick of a switch". There is nothing in the quote about the venting arrangement--is there an existing chimney that is unused? How will venting for both the oil and gas fired boilers be accomplished?

Matthaus · Post by **Matthaus** » Fri. Mar. 06, 2009 8:59 pm

Since you have a local plumber that works for $30 an hour and if your local codes don't have any thing which prevents it I would go for supervising the install yourself. Find the boiler you want either new or used and find support for getting it in the basement and in place. These units are pretty easy to handle, especially if you bring it down in two pieces.

I don't install boilers for a living but I do occasionally do it for people I trust not to sue me, the last AA 130 I did was $4,500 installed for a rebuilt unit including installing a coil in the oil fired AHU. It took a buddy and I 20 minutes to haul the boiler top into the basement and set it on the base with no lifting equipment. It can be done with a little care and planning.

Just continue to do research and learn as much as you can, there are many good sources of information recommended on here. don't be scared , you can do it!

brckwlt · Post by **brckwlt** » Fri. Mar. 06, 2009 9:16 pm

Matthaus wrote:Since you have a local plumber that works for $30 an hour and if your local codes don't have any thing which prevents it I would go for supervising the install yourself. Find the boiler you want either new or used and find support for getting it in the basement and in place. These units are pretty easy to handle, especially if you bring it down in two pieces.

I don't install boilers for a living but I do occasionally do it for people I trust not to sue me, the last AA 130 I did was $4,500 installed for a rebuilt unit including installing a coil in the oil fired AHU. It took a buddy and I 20 minutes to haul the boiler top into the basement and set it on the base with no lifting equipment. It can be done with a little care and planning.

Just continue to do research and learn as much as you can, there are many good sources of information recommended on here. don't be scared , you can do it!

if I bought a boiler I wouldnt sue you if you wanted to install it. I would even help ... well as much as I could help.

Freddy · Post by **Freddy** » Sat. Mar. 07, 2009 3:48 am

The guy that gave you the estimate knows how to bill out $1,500 a day. Is he worth it?

brckwlt · Post by **brckwlt** » Sat. Mar. 07, 2009 3:39 pm

Freddy wrote:The guy that gave you the estimate knows how to bill out $1,500 a day. Is he worth it?

i don't think anyone is worth 1500 dollars a day. are you saying a boiler install would take 3 days?

Post by **coaledsweat** » Sat. Mar. 07, 2009 5:05 pm

The quote is about twice what it should cost.

gaw · Post by **gaw** » Sat. Mar. 07, 2009 5:32 pm

Maybe what they are trying to say is “we are not very interested in the job but for $5,000 we could get interested” You never know. To these guys used to moving residential oil equipment around a coal boiler means some real work especially if it goes down steps.

brckwlt · Post by **brckwlt** » Sat. Mar. 07, 2009 7:09 pm

that is a good point. most of the time they are doing commercial jobs and work out of state. But mike from ahs told me that they are my local distributors and if I wanted to buy an ahs boiler it needed to be from them. not directly from ahs.

CapeCoaler · Post by **CapeCoaler** » Sat. Mar. 07, 2009 7:51 pm

Sound like a refurbished AA and the local guy are in your future boiler job.
Give the money to the $30/hr plumber if he knows what to do.
This is not rocket science.
Common sense and good plumbing practice.

cArNaGe · Post by **cArNaGe** » Sat. Mar. 07, 2009 7:51 pm

Buy from them doesn't mean they have to install it right?

If they do have to install it.

Time to look at other manufacturers if Pat won't give you another dealer.