Skipping annual maintenance - commercial hot water boiler

elfie

have a 15 section cast iron NG fired hot water furnace



was cleaned in the prior yr.



since NG burns cleaner than oil, it seems prudent to do a cleaning every other yr.



does this make sense?  are there any matters of concern that would make sense to have a commercial maintenance firm come in to look at each yr relating to this furnace.



thanks 

Alan (California Radiant) Forbes

Maintenance

If there is very little to clean on a yearly maintenance, make it every other year.  Look over the guys shoulder while he's doing his cleaning and calibration to see what he's coming up with.

I've found that many service companies push for yearly service when it's not required, especially for natural gas equipment. 

Paul Pollets

But...

While NG burns relatively clean, the expansion tanks should be charged or checked for pressure yearly. The bladder tanks lose 1-3# per year.

Thermal_overload

More than cleaning

In my experience, when I clean a boiler, hot water heater, etc, I do a lot more than "clean". Annual service is more about testing every safety device, adjusting combustion for peak efficiency, and catching and fixing potential problems before they become overtime nightmares. As long as your mechanic is actually doing all of the above, you will not save money by skipping service. Maybe not this year or next year, but at some point you may run into emergency service that could have been scheduled and saved a lot more money than skipping the preventive maintenance service.

nicholas bonham-carter

Annual maintenance--a waste of money?

That's a big boiler, and capable of burning many franklins worth of gas every day.

Was the annual maintenance so expensive as to make it unaffordable? Cleaning the burner is only one of many things which should be on the list.

When you consider the results of running a system which has been neglected, how can one refuse an annual inspection.

If you have a knowledgeable employee watching over the system, then you may be able to skip every other year. The other day, on my Peerless 211a, the burner was cleaned, as well as the mud leg opened up, and scraped out.

Luckily no major problems were found!--NBC

Henry

Annuals or bi-annuals

There are so many companies out there with service contracts that say annual inspections and cleanning on hot water systems and NG. They make a fortune! We are trying to be honest with our several thousand base commercial clients. You call us when it is broke. This costs so much less than a service contract. We recommend a proper 20 point inspection and proper cleanning every two years on commercial NG hot water boilers.We provide a copy of the report to the client.  We don't give a fixed price but charge what it takes. It is the only fair way.

elfie

bladder and deaireator

testing the bladder tank makes sense - not sure this has ever been done



also, there is a deareator tank that is connected to the hot water pipe near the boiler



does this need to be evaluated? i guess this device removes air in pipes that occurs when new water is needed in system after a repair is made.