Small boiler recommendation

MaxMercy

My mom's oil fired 1969 Burnham Jubilee boiler needs to go before the cold water hits, and I was wondering about a small boiler to replace it. Right now, the Burnham is running a .75gph at 100lbs (AF replacing the original burner some 30 years ago) and heats fine despite its probably very low efficiency (and it's tough to clean so God knows how bad it is).

Mom is 98 and I don't think she'll be in her house for too many more years, so I'm not looking for a 30 year boiler here, but it's difficult to find small boilers these days of any quality. I'd rather avoid a mod/con completely.

Any advice?

Big Ed_4

The smallest firing boilers are European like a Buderus . They have to use a storage tank for hot water , no coils....

Steamhead

Staying with oil or going gas?

STEVEusaPA

If you're sticking with oil put an EK in. Doesn't matter how long she'll be there. Don't put in cheap junk.
If you're switching to gas, still an EK.

MaxMercy

Steamhead said:

Staying with oil or going gas?

Oil.

HVACNUT

What's being used for domestic hot water?
Weil McLain makes a 2 section GO but it's not deep enough for a tankless coil. 
With a Beckett AFG it fires at .75, 100 psi.
With a Riello F5 it fires at .70, using a .60 nozzle at 135 psi.

The Buderus G115-3 has an input of .70 GPH.

The EK-1 Frontier has an input of .85 GPH. It can be downfired but then it must be sidewall vented. 

I'm not sure on firing rates for a steel dry base, or even if they're that much cheaper than a CI boiler anymore. 

MaxMercy

Steamhead said:

Staying with oil or going gas?

Oil.

HVACNUT said:

What's being used for domestic hot water?
Weil McLain makes a 2 section GO but it's not deep enough for a tankless coil. 
With a Beckett AFG it fires at .75, 100 psi.
With a Riello F5 it fires at .70, using a .60 nozzle at 135 psi.

The Buderus G115-3 has an input of .70 GPH.

The EK-1 Frontier has an input of .85 GPH. It can be downfired but then it must be sidewall vented. 

I'm not sure on firing rates for a steel dry base, or even if they're that much cheaper than a CI boiler anymore. 

She has a stand alone water heater so a DHW coil is not needed or wanted.

I looked at a Thermo Dynamics S dry base steel (I had one and it lasted 30 years before I replaced it with a Slant Intrepid) but the lowest firing rate for that boiler is 0.85/100lbs.

I'll look at the WM and the Buderus. I don't know if my local plumbing supply carries them. I guess I'll stop by before work tomorrow.

Steamhead

@MaxMercy , Burnham makes their MPO-IQ and EMP (older version of MPO with HydroStat instead of IQ controls) in firing rates as low as 0.60. That's even lower than the EK-1 at 0.68.

Have you done a heat-loss calculation on the house?

MaxMercy

Steamhead said:

@MaxMercy , Burnham makes their MPO-IQ and EMP (older version of MPO with HydroStat instead of IQ controls) in firing rates as low as 0.60. That's even lower than the EK-1 at 0.68.

Have you done a heat-loss calculation on the house?

I have not done a heat loss. It's a 1957 small ranch with an addition (although very indifferent insulation in the main house), but the old clunker Burnham running a .75 nozzle had no trouble keeping up with the coldest days so I don't think I need more than .75gph/100lbs and I would assume a .68 in a more efficient boiler would be roughly equal.

I'll do a heat loss anyway before ordering a boiler in case I can go lower. Thanks.

STEVEusaPA

Smallest oil boiler will be too big, so I wouldn’t even bother with a heat loss.

Big Ed_4

The three section Buderus would heat most of the homes out there ....

I did a heat loss on an old large three story , once a summer home down here on the water . No insulation , the walls were vented for cooling , it came in at 150K

reggi

Why does it have to go? Does your Mom agree ? Just a bit curious 🤔

MaxMercy

reggi said:

Why does it have to go? Does your Mom agree ? Just a bit curious 🤔

The chamber is pretty broken up, the outer jacket has areas rusted away at the bottom, and there are areas inside that long brushes and saws just can't seem to get to (pin boiler) from the top or side access plates. I also can't get it much over 7% CO2 without it smoking and the stack temp is over 600F gross. The AF is also some 30 plus years old (I didn't install that burner and don't even know if the head is even a correct match for that boiler), and the old Honeywell controls are archaic (the Honeywell aquastat board burned a hole through it and I had to rebuild that a couple of years ago). I also think that when I have to sell the house in a few years that big ugly chunk will be a big liability and will flag a house inspection.

Mom doesn't care and pretty much defers repairs to me and my brothers. As long as there's heat, mom is happy.

JayMcCay

A lot of good comments, Max give me a call happy to review the information with you

Regards
Jay
908 328-7154