Separate Hot Water Heater for Hydronic Baseboard Heat?

MoeWag

I have existing hydronic baseboard heat that, up until about three weeks ago, had the hot water supplied by a (very very old) oil-fired boiler. With the price of home heating oil as of late, it took a while to save enough $ to get a delivery. Long story short...finally got a delivery and the boiler died on the same day.

Question: Can we use a smaller electric hot water heater and circulating pump to heat the water that runs through the baseboard hydronic heat? My other half seems to think that the temperature will not be high enough; and I have read conflicting information pro and con on the subject on the Internet.

Any insight is appreciated.

MoeWag

lee_7

What died on boiler? A part or did boiler crack? If a part, must can be fixed until a new boiler, with better effeicency can be istalled.

MoeWag

The only thing that is still working on the boiler is the circulator pump (which, technically, is not even part of the boiler). The boiler is 30+ years old and the prior owners of the house did not get regular maint. on it.

I understand that another boiler is the end solution, but that cannot be done until spring due to costs. I need to know if a small, electric water heater will suffice in the meantime.

Addt'l note: We did take the home hot water (sinks, showers, etc.) off of the boiler last year and have a tankless for that that is doing the job just fine

lee_7

You probably will not get enough hot water to heat a home with a water heater. Boilers heat to 180' and a hot water heater at best will do 140-150'. On cold days you will be cold. And depending on the volume of hot water needs to heat home, you are going to have issues.

The burner parts are replacable, so why not repair and replace in spring? Easier solution, and you will have enough hot water to keep home warm

MoeWag

We have had two plumbers and three HVAC techs out here and all of them have told us that they cannot guarantee even locating replacement parts, let alone even guess that it would work.

lee_7

what parts did they say were bad?

MoeWag

All parts of the boiler are dead. The boiler is 30 years old. It has it's death certificate, we are now exploring alternate options. One of those options will not be pieces parts on the old boiler. Even if we *could* do that we cannot afford another oil delivery on top of a heat source. We sold the oil that we had delivered to a neighbor.

While I appreciate the input on the old boiler, it is basically scrap metal at this point in time

Jim Wy.

A standard electric w.h. only puts out 4500 watts, roughly 15000 btu. Is the area to be heated larger than 500 sq. ft. ? because that's about the best it can do. As for temp. it depends on amoont of b.b. and size of pipe but I think most copper fintube jobs are figured at 180*

lee_7

If old boiler is scrap, the only option you have is to replace with new boiler or winterize and move in with inlaws. Just kidding. Not much you are going to do except replace.

MoeWag

Thank you both...that is what I needed to know. Appreciate the time. I am off to find those electric space heaters....

Jim Wy.

maybe if the electric service and cicuit wiring are good you could limp along with plug in heaters ? safety would be an important concern