Feedback on Boiler System for Home Purchase

nis2008

hi, I’m considering purchasing a new home in Long Island, NY. The home has oil heating and a central air for cooling.

The boiler looks old but appears to heat up the house very well - it’s baseboard heating throughout house. I counted at least 3 thermostats throughout the house - two being modern nest thermostats and one is the old manual honeywell. There doesn’t appear to be any heating available in the basement, which has 3 rooms - one office, one craft room and one laundry room. Few questions as it’s my first time dealing with an oil heating system:

1. Generally does the heating system look fine? Anything stand out as a concern based on the photos cosmetically?
   
2. How much of a challenge is it to add baseboard heating connected to this system for the basement? Approximately how much will it cost?
   
3. There is a gas line available on the street as neighbors have converted their homes. Is it possible to convert an existing boiler system to gas from oil or does the boiler need to be replaced? Is it expensive to convert?
4. Central cooling system/blower is located in the attic. Is that normal?

Thank you.

EBEBRATT-Ed

That boiler is pretty old. I would guess 60s maybe 70s. Looks like an HB Smith Maybe. I would continue running it as is (the burner is much newer) and save for a replacement.

I don't know the size of your home, but the boiler looks pretty big. I would get it serviced regularly. Air handler in the attic for cooling is fine

You could convert to gas and get rid of the oil tank when you are ready.

You can add baseboard to the basement.

We can't talk prices here.

If you looking for a good contractor (that the most important thing) check "find a contractor on this site" and post your city.

You want a contractor to select the right size boiler, no guessing.

mattmia2

that boiler is probably from about the 40's. it could be converted to gas with a gas power burner but probably isn't worth it given its age. It is fine until it leaks which could be tomorrow or 30 years from now.

the soot on the outside is concerning, it should be properly serviced and adjusted by someone that knows what they are doing. there are several good contractors in the find a contractor section of this site that work in long island. It is unlikely that is a fatal or particularly expensive fix, just that it has been worked on by people that didn't know what they are doing or it has not been serviced in a long time. oil boilers should be service annually or at least every couple years, they need to be tested to make sure they are burning properly and need to be cleaned regularly.

the one thing that someone should do that could be expensive is to make sure the chimney is in good shape, if that requires major repair that could be expensive. we can't talk about specific prices of services on this site.

a lot of the electrical, probably done as a retrofit for the zoning and/or when electrical in the house was replaced looks like it was done by someone non-professional or a very sloppy professional.

another loop could be added to heat the basement. that wouldn't be inexpensive. addling it to the boiler is relatively simple but some sort of emitters and control needs to be installed, the individual pieces are pretty simple but all together they will add up.

the adding ac with an air handler in the attic is common because that is where there is space for it. that is never the best of ideas but how well it works depends mostly on how well whoever installed it sealed and insulated the ductwork so it isn't being heated by or sucking in the hot and dirty attic air.

HVACNUT

First things first. We're ON Long Island, not in.

That's an American Standard Arco Liner from probably the early 60's. The scorch marks on the jacket should be a concern.

With the Riello, the efficiency is probably in the low to mid 80's if set up properly. Those doors need to be sealed tight with new kaowool rope.

Overall, its not too bad, but its not too good either. The existing piping looks a mess, so I wouldn’t add any more to it. Since the Turbo Max is already there, I'd think about replacing the boiler with something like a Buderus G115. Even if converting to gas, I'd go with a G115 and power burner over atmospheric.

Where's the oil tank, buried? I notice the Tiger Loop.

hot_rod

OSI!is a great company to work with, Oceanside, LI

Michael Levi and his dad Richie “ace troubleshooter” Dan Holohan has written about this company over the years

3 generations, 4th on its way🤗

EdTheHeaterMan

When I started working on oil burners in the late 1970's, that Arco Liner model boiler was very old.  It was originally designed in the 1930s to be a coal boiler.  After WWII there was a big demand for oil heat and the boiler manufacturers did not have time to re-tool their cast iron foundries to make dedicated oil heat package boilers, or package gas boilers, so they made minor modifications to the bottom front door and installed an oil burner in there, and sold that as a "Oil Heat" package.   Some of those Arco Liners were sold with additional sheet metal vestibule jackets and a modern sheet metal front door to cover the oil burner, controls, wiring, coal door and clean out door.  The classy ones even had a 30 watt lightbulb mounted on the jacket interior for the service technician to work on the oil burner.  It was the “cat’s pajamas”. Here is a steam Arco Liner boiler with the oil burner vestibule added at time of the original installation

I never liked that extra vestibule because it got in the way when doing the annual maintenance. So your boiler is over 60 years old and maybe over 70 years old.  That boiler owes you nothing.  Don’t touch it… don't add to it… don’t convert it to gas…  Just use it.  

When it is time to make a decision on a gas boiler or a new oil boiler, that is when I would add the basement zone.  If adding the basement zone is a priority, then it is time to replace the boiler.