Gas Boiler question: Tried and true or new and fancy?

I'm switching from oil boiler to gas. After talking with plumbers, reading online and looking over the brochures I'm down to a choice between two Burnham gas boilers. With rebates, the two choices are about equal in price.

Burnham Series 2 (80% efficiency) Has literally been around for 20 years. No fancy digital readouts and panels. A no nonsense boiler. If something breaks, a guy with a greasy wrench will come to fix it.

Burnham ES2 (85% efficiency) Newer model. Newer tech. Digital readouts for accuracy and troubleshooting error codes. Computer controls and more high techy. If something breaks, a guy with a laptop will come to fix it.

The plumbers say both are great reliable boilers. They have no reason to recommend one over the other. The install costs relatively the same. Most plumbers I've spoken with have the older Series 2 boiler only because the newer ES2 was not around when they did their own install. The Series 2 has a proven track record of rock solid performance for 20 years. Will it be around for another 20? Or is it close to being discontinued?

What would you choose?
Tried and true or new and fancy?

New.

Old and reliable. Burnham has had a good name for a long time. But the more gizmos you add, the less reliable the device is.

I'd opt for the newer, higher efficiency model since they're so close otherwise.

I would choose the older simpler model, it may save money in repair cost in the long term.

Well, that certainly helped you make a choice...

50/50 so far. LOL Who wants to be the tie-breaker?

KISS
especially considering the price of NG should stay relatively low.


I thought they were a bit better than oil though.
My new oil burner is 87% and I can squeeze to 93% with the computer control and outdoor temp sensor.
It is mostly a back-up system so I can live with 87%.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/18/2012 07:29PM by billb.

my "new" boiler is 3 years old and 85% AFUE or something like that. It's a Burnham.

what you will find is that plumbers do NOT like to deviate from what they know and they all know Burnham. iI found it *very* hard to find a plumber that wanted to take a chance on a burner with which they were not all familiar.

Quote
billb
KISS
especially considering the price of NG should stay relatively low.

no, no it won't. Power generation plants running fuel turbines are using more and more natural gas, and far less diesel than in the past. NG burns cleaner. It's just going to get more expensive every year, and probably faster than oil, and assuredly faster than electricity.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/19/2012 01:41AM by Racer X.

Older, for reliability.

5% not worth worrying about complicated electronic controls.