Welcome! Here are the website rules, as well as some tips for using this forum.
Need to contact us? Visit https://heatinghelp.com/contact-us/.
Click here to Find a Contractor in your area.
If our community has helped you, please consider making a contribution to support this website. Thanks!

Need new boiler

jeff3176
jeff3176 Member Posts: 11
edited October 29 in Radiant Heating

Good day.

I had a service tech. do our yearly check up. Our 25 year old Buderus boiler is burning poorly and I can see rust on the inside top.

The tech. quoted me a price for a Navien tankless boiler. Can I replace with a comparable boiler if there is such a thing?

Thanks for the help! Jeff

Comments

  • Jamie Hall
    Jamie Hall Member Posts: 26,525

    There's a lot more to it than that.

    First, "burning poorly" is a service and adjustment problem. Something a competent tech should be able to remedy. A brand new boiler can burn poorly. A 50 year old boiler can burn very well.

    Second, rust — without a leak — is not necessarily a problem. Is it leaking? If not, it ain't broke.

    Now let's suppose that it is in fact leaking.

    To replace it you first need to know what the actual heat loss or power demand of the system is. With hot water heat, there's no point in putting in a boiler which can make more heat than the building can use. Also with hot water, it helps to know what temperature the system needs to run it — which is determined partly by the heat loss and partly by the radiators or baseboards or whatever that are in there..

    Then you need to choose a fuel.

    Then you can begin to wonder what boilers to look at.

    Oh and just one more thing. We don't quote prices on The Wall.

    Br. Jamie, osb
    Building superintendent/caretaker, 7200 sq. ft. historic house museum with dependencies in New England
    mattmia2HeatingHelp.com
  • HVACNUT
    HVACNUT Member Posts: 7,086

    What model is the Buderus?

    kcopp
  • kcopp
    kcopp Member Posts: 4,601

    Never Navien…

    SuperTechpsb75
  • EBEBRATT-Ed
    EBEBRATT-Ed Member Posts: 18,856

    A few pictures would help.

  • HeatingHelp.com
    HeatingHelp.com Member, Moderator, Administrator Posts: 176

    Hi @jeff3176, I've edited out the pricing in your post as it goes against the site rules. I also agree with @EBEBRATT-Ed that posting a few pictures of your system would help us help you.

    Forum Moderator

  • pecmsg
    pecmsg Member Posts: 6,589

    You didn't get a tech you got a salesman!

    Find a different service provider.

    SuperTech
  • Alan (California Radiant) Forbes
    Alan (California Radiant) Forbes Member Posts: 4,587

    You asked for salami, you got baloney.

    8.33 lbs./gal. x 60 min./hr. x 20°ΔT = 10,000 BTU's/hour

    Two btu per sq ft for degree difference for a slab
  • patrykrebisz
    patrykrebisz Member Posts: 27
    edited October 29

    guys doing yearly check ups, most of the time, dont understand steam.

    they know enough to do basic wrenching but their knowledge ends there. and they can actually make your system work worse (as was the case with one of my "techs").

    the usual qute for boiler replacement is price of the boiler (look it up) x3. it's expendive! especially since one of those Xs is due to fact that lack of skilled trades people allow the plumbers to quote what they want.

    bring in a skilled plumber, not a "tech" that comes with one of those yearly contracts and they should solve your "poor burning ".

  • jeff3176
    jeff3176 Member Posts: 11

    My boiler is a Buderus G 124 X. When I was told it was burning dirty, the inside wasn’t bad with the exception of the rust. Where the problem is is in the exhaust. The CO reading out the back is around 300 ppm. In the pipe the reading was over that. I’m not getting any CO alarms anywhere in the house.

    IMG_3718.jpeg
  • Jamie Hall
    Jamie Hall Member Posts: 26,525

    As we have said — there's probably nothing at all wrong with that boiler that a competent technician with the proper test equipment can't fix.

    You don't need a new boiler. You need a competent tech.

    Br. Jamie, osb
    Building superintendent/caretaker, 7200 sq. ft. historic house museum with dependencies in New England
    mattmia2HVACNUTclammySuperTech
  • mattmia2
    mattmia2 Member Posts: 14,623
    https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1870021#Comment_1870021

    or possibly jusat waiting until it is hot before measuring.

    Grallert
  • JMWHVAC
    JMWHVAC Member Posts: 98

    Every so often I get called for a second opinion on wether a boiler needs replacement or not. Seems more often than not I tell the customer that while a new setup would save fuel, their boiler is in fine shape. What I find amusing is that sometimes the customer does eventually decide to upgrade and he gets us to do it instead of the company that said it needs replacing.

    bburd
  • clammy
    clammy Member Posts: 3,233

    You got a salesmen ,the g124 is most likely one of the best cast iron boiler made in recent decades . In the past i have installed many and never had one issue ,I had a large company tell my parents that there g124 was in bad shape and parts where unavailable total bull being there off the shelf common parts . Get a new tech not a salesmen.

    clammy

    R.A. Calmbacher L.L.C. HVAC
    NJ Master HVAC Lic.
    Mahwah, NJ
    Specializing in steam and hydronic heating

    mattmia2
  • HVACNUT
    HVACNUT Member Posts: 7,086

    Is that the shadow of a steel compression tank on the wall? If so, the air eliminator shouldn't be there. And the boiler is fine.

  • hot_rod
    hot_rod Member Posts: 25,934

    what type of heat emitters, radiators or fin tube?

    Rust around the flue connection could indicate it has been running to low of a temperature. Or short cycling due to over sizing. This can also lead to dirty combustion chambers

    Bob "hot rod" Rohr
    trainer for Caleffi NA
    Living the hydronic dream

Categories