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Re: Lochinvar / Knight Boiler 80-285 Issues
Funny. Someone just the other day was having a problem in Anchorage, and a name was mentioned. I forget, however, who it was.
Now. In your first post you said "The hot water heater appears to still be producing hot water which gets its heat from the boiler installed right next to the water tank. But, the baseboard heating is not giving off any heat…hence the cold house." and the picture of your water heater shows a SuperstorUltra. Which is what is called an indirect hot water heater — that is, it stores hot water, but it s heated by a boiler — in this case your heating boiler. So it is fair to assume that the boiler does run to make hot water. Is that true? Can you hear or see the boiler run to make hot water?
If you can, your problem is NOT the boiler. It is either in whatever asks the boiler to run for heat — thermostat or whatever — or the pump to run to circulate the hot water the boiler makes.
Now I see three circulating pumps in one of the pictures. At least two of them must run to heat the house. Which one, or ones, runs when the system is heating the hot water and the boiler is running for that? Do any of them run when you turn the thermostat for heating the house up all the way? Which ones?
Would it be possible for you to draw — and post — a diagram of the piping in the system — including the how water heater — showing all the valves and pumps and, if possible, flow direction through the pumps?
Also, since I think you said you are an IT guy, the complete wiring for the thermostat and any connected valves or other switches or pumps and controls?
Re: Old oil fired boiler for hot water baseboard
Oil boilers like yours should get an annual service that includes brushing out the heat exchanger, replacing the nozzle in the burner, replacing the oil filter, and a combustion test. Most fuel companies offer this type of service, and there may also be some independent guys in your area that offer this service.
If the boiler isn’t leaking it should continue to be reliable, but considering the age it would be good to think about replacing it - even if only for a contingency plan.
As for the btus, we should be able to look that up if you can get a better picture of that information plate. Your oil burner tech will also be able to confirm the size of the nozzle.
Don’t be surprised if the boiler turns out to be larger than what is needed to heat the house. You can confirm this once you see how much heating oil you burn this winter (it is a simple calculation of degree days vs. fuel consumption).
Re: Old oil fired boiler for hot water baseboard
A room-by-room Manual "J" Heat load / loss calculation will tell you how many BTU/h are needed to heat the home. It was not uncommon for boilers to be oversized 70 years ago.
At 70 years you can plan on replacing that unit in the near future.
Any tags showing wo delivered the oil to the residence? Where is this home located, we might know someone in the area that is better qualified to inspect it then that home inspector.
pecmsg
Re: Old oil fired boiler for hot water baseboard
Could be a low speed burner. A little blurry, but it might be a 3450 ABC Sunray burner.
In either case, you'll notice the scorch marks above the burner. That must be addressed. Chamber and front plate gasket.
If you pop off the panel on the right side of the boiler, and see gobs of cement and soot, then that's what a 1970's oil fired boiler looks like. That's not acceptable in 2024.
Where are you located? A new modern oil fired boiler, together with the correct controls will be much cleaner and more efficient than what's there now.
HVACNUT
Re: Kewanee Cottage Boiler Age Estimate
Speaking as a homeowner I am sure your home had a hand fed coal boiler with larger boiler tapping's and a great deal of thermal mass before this gas fired boiler was installed.
Are your radiators used as individual expansion tanks leaving an air charge in each radiator rather than using an open to air expansion tank in the top floor or the attic???
The large diameter piping above the boiler allows the hot water flow slowly and evenly to all the radiators in your home. There are a more than a handful of cast iron boilers with large pipe tapping's offered for home heating that could replace it.
I guess you are at the point where you could replace the boiler with the right one with the same size tapping's, new low water cut off switch and water feed valve and a single new clamp on aquastat to control the water temperature maintaining the heating systems simplicity and add that to the homes purchase cost. The installation of a new low water cut off switch in one of side tapping's of the new boiler will protect the new boiler and maintain plumbing code compliance.
leonz
Re: Kewanee Cottage Boiler Age Estimate
Trying to prove that a 70+ year old boiler won’t have any issues is an impossibility.
It’s true the block is built like a tank, but proper maintenance, water conditions and other factors also contribute to its life. There’s also the issue of efficiency. That thing was probably 60% efficient the day it was installed, maybe less. A new mod/con boiler is 95% efficient and people are very energy conscious now days.
At 70+ years old, I would insist on the cost of replacement being deducted from the price of the home if I were the buyer.
Ironman
Re: Lochinvar / Knight Boiler 80-285 Issues
"The hot water heater appears to still be producing hot water which gets its heat from the boiler installed right next to the water tank. But, the baseboard heating is not giving off any heat…hence the cold house."
Nothing unusual about this. There are two separate sys. House heating and hot water heating. Hot water heating works and house heating is intermittent as you stated with your friend's comments. There can be many problems that can cause this.
Sorry to say, this is beyond your capability to fix, regardless of the help you get here. You need a professional to come in and make a diagnosis. Have him check the combustion chamber, too, it may need cleaning.
I would get rid of that old thermostat and replace it with a newer one, but not an internet type. You can take the cover off of the old one and jump the two thermostat wire coming from the boiler and see if that causes the heat from the boiler to increase the heat in the rooms.
