Radiant heat specialist — credited for radiant installations since a 2011 home tour
Owner on the tools — states he performs every job himself with no employees
Steam system knowledge — a Lowell commenter called his steam expertise hard to find
Boiler craftsmanship — a 2025 customer praised his soldering and material choices
What does heating and cooling work cost in Greater Boston?
Typical Greater Boston range for this kind of work, from regional averages — not a quote from Bob Gagnon Plumbing & Heating. Use it to sanity-check bids, then get the real number in writing.
One-star allegation — a 2024 reviewer accused him of expediting boiler failures
Thin written record — only two review bodies on file, from 2024 and 2025
Licence unverified — the master plumber number is self-reported, not registry-checked
No BBB rating — BBB says it lacks sufficient information to rate the business
Tenure figures differ — site says 20 years, BBB records a 1980 start
Bob Gagnon Plumbing & Heating is a one-man plumbing and heating business at 136 Townsend Ave in Lowell. The Better Business Bureau file records it as a sole proprietorship started on 1 January 1980 with a single employee, owner Robert M. Gagnon, and the company's own site says he is a master plumber who does every job himself with no crew.
The work it is known for is heat rather than drains: radiant floor heating, boiler and water heater replacement, and forced hot water systems. A June 2025 customer described a high-efficiency boiler and water heater installation in which Gagnon soldered all the pipes and connections personally and coordinated a partner electrician so neither trade lost time. A Lowell resident on Reddit in 2025 singled out his knowledge of steam heating systems as unusually hard to find. A 2011 Green Needham home-tour page credited the business for a radiant heating installation on an older-home energy retrofit, and a boiler manufacturer's case study names him as an installing contractor.
The written record is thin and it is split. Google publishes 4.3 stars from six ratings, but only two review bodies exist: the 2025 five-star account above, and an August 2024 one-star review alleging he wilfully contradicts manufacturer recommendations and trade practice standards so that boilers fail early and he earns the reinstallation. That allegation is unaccompanied by any account of a specific job, and nothing here resolves it either way.
Two other things to settle before hiring. The master plumber number the site prints, 9694, is the business's own claim and has not been checked against the state registry here. And BBB lists the business as not accredited with a rating of "Not Rated", saying it has insufficient information to rate it.
For a radiant heat or boiler job in the Lowell area where you want the owner on the tools rather than a crew, this is a credible small operator with a long trading history. Ask him directly about the 2024 complaint, and verify licence 9694 with the Massachusetts Board of State Examiners of Plumbers and Gas Fitters before you sign.
Heard around town
On Reddit
Recommendations for someone to replace a steam boiler?Feb 10, 2025
“Bob Gagnon, he is so knowledgeable about steam heating systems, which is incredibly hard to find these days.”
In June 2025 I contracted with Bob Gagnon Plumbing & Heating Lowell, MA to install a new high efficiency boiler and water heater. I am impressed with the level of craftsmanship and high quality of the materials. Bob did the work himself, soldering all the pipes and connections. He also partners with a trusted electrician (Tessier Electric), and they coordinated the work so there were no delays or downtime for either of them.
I highly recommend Bob Gagnon for quality repairs or replacement systems. He will keep you informed at every step and lets you know what to expect as he goes. This job exceeded my expectations.