Pricing is going to be regional. You can only compare apples-to-apples so you’ll just have to get some quotes from local vendors and compare that to perhaps purchasing the unit yourself but maybe getting a qualified gas plumber to hook it up so you can get the warranty. The Pro’s are never going to compete against online pricing as you’re paying for their labor costs and their assurance through their licensing that they are doing the job right and that they will warranty their workmanship for a specified period of time. I could easily get a Pentair Mastertemp new for around $2800 but it would cost $4k to get a contractor to do the work. The mark up is a lot but that’s because you’re making the job someone else’s headache, not yours.
As for the bronze header and cupronickel heat exchangers, most of our heater experts will say it’s not worth the cost. Taking proper care of your pool water chemistry has a much greater impact on longevity than what materials the heater is constructed with. Bad water balance will rot out or plug up a copper heat exchangers just as fast as a cupronickel one. Also, cupronickel has poorer heat transfer (less efficient) and so those units will require a bit more gas to achieve the same performance as a copper heat exchangers.
