I need a new steam boiler, and I need lots of help on picking the correct model.

baerlisnice

1841 Greek revival ; old mansion ; 3,200 sq. ft. 14 rads, 36 windows, no insulation in walls but 6'' in attic, lathe and plaster walls, never restored all original interiors. since 2000 had a Peerless ECT-04 , house never heated correctly several rads never got above slightly warm. My poor parents were sold bad units in 12 years they went through 2 steam furnaces, I need to get this right this time, ANYTHING you can help me with I will be extremely.
grateful

delta T

Most likely it was not the boiler, but the installation that caused failure of the previous boilers.

First thing, where are you located? We may be able to recommend a good pro in your area, or you can use the 'find a contractor' link on the main page of this site.

Boilers going bad that quickly sounds like you have a leak in the system somewhere, on an older system it is most likely a buried wet return that is leaking into the ground where you may not ever notice it. Constant fresh water kills boilers by constantly adding new oxygen and subsequently oxidizing the boiler to the point of failure in short order.

It is likely that the problem with a few radiators not heating is more of an air venting problem than anything else and may be easy to correct. Some pictures of the current boiler and the piping near it would be helpful in identifying problems with your installation.

Zman

I would recommend that you buy this book and follow the advice. https://heatinghelp.com/store/detail/we-got-steam-heat

It will give you a good overview of how steam works as well as great tips on vetting contractors.

JUGHNE

Pictures of existing boiler, back up and show all piping from several sides.
Pictures of typical radiators.....from each end.
Size of radiators must be accounted for when choosing size of boiler.

In the meantime get the book mentioned above, more helpful than you can imagine and great to read.