Bock
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Bock Water Heater traces back to 1929, when engineer and inventor Oscar Bock established the company in Madison, Wisconsin to manufacture oil-fired water heaters and burners. The company built its reputation on oil-fired equipment before applying that same expertise to gas-fired water heaters, a category it has served for more than seventy years.
Bock later expanded into indirect water heaters under the SideKick name, pairing its tank designs with boiler systems for combined space and water heating. The company markets itself today as the top selling oil-fired water heater brand in North America.
Product Lines
The Bock lineup available through SupplyHouse centers on oil-fired water heaters, gas-fired water heaters, and SideKick indirect water heaters that work alongside a boiler to supply domestic hot water. Tank sizes and recovery rates vary across the lineup to match anything from a single-family home to a multi-unit building with higher simultaneous demand.
Why Contractors Specify Bock
Heating contractors who service oil-fired systems specify Bock because the brand has built its entire engineering history around that fuel type, rather than treating it as a secondary offering. Familiarity among oil heat technicians, parts availability, and a long service record in the field make Bock a practical choice when replacing an aging oil-fired tank. The SideKick indirect line also gives contractors a straightforward option for pairing domestic hot water production with an existing or new boiler.
How to Choose Bock Products
Matching tank capacity and recovery rate to household or building hot water demand is the first step when selecting a Bock water heater, since undersizing leads to recovery complaints and oversizing wastes fuel and space. Fuel type, oil or gas, needs to match the available utility connection and any existing venting already in place at the property. For indirect models, confirming that the paired boiler has enough output to satisfy both space heating and the indirect coil during peak demand keeps the system performing as designed.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between a Bock oil-fired and gas-fired water heater?
An oil-fired Bock heater burns oil to heat the tank directly, while a gas-fired model uses natural gas or propane, and the choice typically comes down to which fuel is already available at the property.
What is a Bock SideKick water heater?
The SideKick is Bock's indirect water heater, a storage tank that uses heat from an existing or new boiler rather than its own burner to produce domestic hot water.
How long has Bock been manufacturing water heaters?
Bock has manufactured water heaters since 1929, when Oscar Bock founded the company in Madison, Wisconsin to build oil-fired heaters and burners.
Is Bock still focused on oil-fired equipment?
Oil-fired water heaters remain central to the Bock lineup, with the company describing itself as the top selling oil-fired water heater brand in North America, though it also manufactures gas-fired and indirect models.
Can a Bock indirect water heater work with any boiler?
A Bock SideKick indirect water heater needs to be sized and paired with a boiler that has sufficient output to cover both space heating and the indirect tank's recovery demand, so matching capacities during selection matters.
