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Steam boiler assessment

MountainSteam
MountainSteam Member Posts: 20
in Strictly Steam
My house is over 80 years old, with a two pipe steam system. Around 1989, a natural gas boiler was installed (Burhnam model 5006B, dated 1989). There are several questionable parts to the installation and they will will most likely involve some major work to fix (I'll ask about those in separate posts)

For now I'm wondering: Is there is a way to assess my boiler's dependability?

I'd hate to spend a lot of effort on fixes to the near boiler piping only to find I should have replaced the boiler as well.

Some facts:
  • Boiler: Natural gas Burnham model 5006B, 1989
  • Boiler rated for 991 steam SF. Actual is 1,159 SF, but... I plan to decommission at least two radiators and many of the radiators on the second floor are off because it gets too hot up there now that we've insulated the house.
  • The system runs well at low pressure, but while testing the pressuretrols, I brought the pressure up to 6 psi. I noticed no issues with the boiler.
  • When I look at newer boilers, I see only a slight efficiency improvement in the last 27 years (around 1.3%), which will not justify an upgrade alone.
So it seems to me that I should proceed with my other fixes and leave the boiler alone.

Am I missing something?

There are more details about my boiler on this page.

Thanks.

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