This is a gas conversion. The contractor didn't take any kind of measurement, didn't even know the rating of the old boiler so now I'm kind of screwed and pretty upset. He insists that the problem is with the house which is nonsense but I need to know my options. How much $ would I lose to return it and what is the price difference between 105k BTU output and the next size bigger?
If you hired the contractor for his expertise, he is responsible to complete the job. You may have to file a small claims court plea to alleviate the problem and be reimbursed. He should've corrected the problem if he knew what he was doing, and is a professional.
You need to try to work with that contractor if at all possible. You think it is too small by one size? Most of the country is seeing milder temps right now so that boiler should be able to keep up. Maybe you have some other problem but you are not giving any details about it. A few years ago we had a flood in the area and a lot of equipment was changed out, we were overwhelmed with work. I had one job where we did put in too small of a boiler. It worked fine until temps got down to -30 degrees F. After checking the amount of radient baseboard we realized we needed the next size up. Even though the original boiler was removed before we were there we still took responsibility and installed the larger boiler for the price difference of the boilers themselves. No additional labor. Our reputation is worth much more than the cost of labor for half a day and some money we lost on the smaller boiler. We did eventually sell the boiler for $300 less than what it would have if it had been unused. Point is I would hope you are giving the contractor ample time to ensure there is not some other problem. It took us two trips to conclude that the boiler was working properly but was just too small in very cold weather.
There is no returning used boilers, no matter how little they are used. If you had taken a photo of the old boilers nameplate, you could show what its capacity was. If not, the contractor will claim the old boiler was incorrectly sized also. Do you have any proof that it was not? Small Claims Court usually has a limit of $2500, your installation probably cost 2-3 times that much. You need to hire an attorney to see what your options are, as there is a lot of money involved. One thing in your favor, is that you have the right to expect a working system. On the other hand, the contractor will claim he was just following your instructions and approval. An attorney can tell you if you how likely you are to win in court, and he also can try and negotiate a settlement with the contractor.
