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[Coyote556]

I am deep in the process of researching boilers and really like the BL series from Portage and Main but I have a couple concerns.  Why do the hold so much less water than many other conventional boilers?  I am sure there is a reason, I just can't figure out what it is. 

The other thing is there does not seem to be any dealers down in the central part of the states.  There are CB and Hardy dealers everywhere around here but I cannot find any PM dealers.  I called corporate in Canada and they were real nice on the phone, but how important do you all think a close dealer is??

Thanks

[hondaracer2oo4]

Slim will be able to answer all of your questions in specifics to the P&M line. As far as how important the dealer is? Its really a personal thing. I personally like and enjoy doing everything for myself, being self sufficient for everything. If I ever bought a brand new boiler(which I don't think I ever would, to many good deals on couple year old boilers) I would want someone that close enough to knock on their door about warranty problems. After the warranty was out though I would do whatever it took myself to get the boiler fixed whether it was welding, electrical etc.

[CountryBoyJohn]

I would say that dealer QUALITY is more important than dealer proximity.  I dropped the dealer that was 1 hour away for a dealer that was 8 hours and a whole state away.  The close one took 3 weeks to get me an estimate, never returned phone calls, and was laughably overpriced.  I've never actually met the dealer I went with.  But, he answers texts, phone calls, e-mails, you name it, in a very timely manner!  He and Heatmaster have a strong relationship and that trickles down to me as well. 

[slimjim]

Hi  coyote, I started to reply and a customer walked in, sorry, the reason for less water is that it is not needed, the refractory cement is now the mass storage and at the same time it keeps the fire very hot in between burn cycles for faster recovery times, think of it as a Gas wall hung modulating on demand boiler, they hold about 2 cups of water at any given time and can heat your entire home with it because of the incredibly fast recovery time, Honda and country boy both good posts, thanks!

[ITO]

 Some of what you ask about a dealer has to do with how comfortable you are with working on these kinds of things yourself and shipping comes into play also, sometimes they are not cheap to ship. I agree with the quality of the dealer being important, local ordinances have to be looked at regarding gasser/non-gasser if you can install either then that becomes a personal choice too, sounds like you are doing a lot of research beforehand that is worth a ton. Good luck.
 I like the comparison of the modulating boiler Slim, never really thought of it like that before.

[Coyote556]

I consider myself pretty mechanical and can fix most anything.  The only thing is my welding skills are not the best.  I am not too worried about getting parts shipped to me, so long as the company stands behind the product.  Some of the stories about leaking boilers needing to be shipped back to the factory for warranty repair scare the hell out of me.  So far, I have not heard this out of P&M but I haven't checked into their warranty issues that deep yet.

[slimjim]

This is where that sectional boiler comes in, Imagine coming out in the AM and finding your boiler leaking and instead of shipping it back to the factory at your cost  and waiting for the return again your cost for shipping, you can split it in half and either weld it up easily because everything is accessible or you call corporate while it's under warranty and they send you another tank that simply bolts into place and you are up and running, I don't know about you guys but I really like that. Here in the socialist state of Maine a conventional boiler sold before the rules cannot be replaced by corporate under warranty, the tank because it is considered a part can, you guys that can still buy conventionals should give that some thought.

[ijon]

This is where that sectional boiler comes in, Imagine coming out in the AM and finding your boiler leaking and instead of shipping it back to the factory at your cost  and waiting for the return again your cost for shipping, you can split it in half and either weld it up easily because everything is accessible or you call corporate while it's under warranty and they send you another tank that simply bolts into place and you are up and running, I don't know about you guys but I really like that. Here in the socialist state of Maine a conventional boiler sold before the rules cannot be replaced by corporate under warranty, the tank because it is considered a part can, you guys that can still buy conventionals should give that some thought.

                                    Good  point.