boiler

Patrick_8

I have a old house that has base board hot water with a 18-20 year old Burnham fuel oil boiler.

#1 I read in the P&M magazine someone comment that 20 years is the life cycle for a particular boiler(dont recall exact details), never heard that before. What are general life spans of boilers?? Fuel(boiler, not burner)?? Gas??? Residential?? Condensing??? Commercial???

#2 I have been toying with going to propane (natural not available in my area), what are your thoughts?? Boiler is located in basement (propane heavier than air). I understand that fuel burns hotter but when it comes to $$ which is more efficent?? Does maintenance fall into your answer or is it first cost??

#3 House is divided in 2 zones (upstairs and ground level) I could gain more control by additional zoning but unsure of the following. Would this play havock on the boiler by cycling it on and off (no reserve tank) boiler comes on with heat call and if water temp falls below 140F. Would this raise my heating costs?? wear and tear on the boiler??

#4 As I stated above I have base board hot water, is there a efficency difference between radiators and fin tube?? Would like to change out to radiators if feasable and cost effective. So difficult with furniture and crap to keep the baseboard free from obstructions.

#5 Was also reading about scale removal, how often should you add chems to the system??

Thank you to anyone with input!!!

Patrick_8

questions for the pro's

Unknown

Patrick,

The life expectancy of cast iron boilers may most certainly exceed 20 years if it has been maintained and serviced properly. What does happen over that period of time is that the mechanical and electrical devices (burner & controls) may reach a point where they will need either replacement or service due to the number of cycles they have encountered. More than often though, newer technology and more efficient products are the reason that boilers are replaced. We are moving forward every day with more innovative products and technology.

The cost and value per dollar of oil and LP are basically about the same at this point in time. That decision I would leave up to you and or your installer. It is never a good idea to put water cooler than 140°F through a boiler. We do have two boilers that have the ability to handle return water as low as 55°F. They are the Revolution gas boiler and Opus oil-fired boiler. They both incorporate a primary-secondary injection mixing setup and have efficiencies approaching 89% AFUE.

Although radiators offer you the ability to establish a higher comfort level with lower water temperature and longer running cycles, fin-tube gives you a quicker recovery. I myself like the radiators because of their radiant characteristics.

Finally, if the system is tight and properly maintained, then there should be little to no makeup water introduced into the system and boiler, thus no need for chemical additives. Hope this helps!

Glenn Stanton

Burnham Corp.

www.burnham.com

www.aboutopus.com

Steamhead

20 year old Burnham

should still have plenty of life in it. My V-14 was installed 20 years ago this summer and is in great shape, and is efficient enough that it makes no sense to replace it now. So are a whole lot of other older Burnhams I've seen.

As Glenn says, the key to long life is proper operation and maintenance. With these, a good boiler will last for decades.

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Patrick_8

Thanks guys!!! It is a good boiler, easy to clean and not to complex with controls and still in good shape. The burner has seen better days and I was weighing the decision of new boiler versus new gun. Sounds like a new gun is in order.

Steamhead

If you have the ABC-Sunray FC Bantam burner

the setup specs are, well, different. But when set up properly it runs well. The important thing to remember is, it's NOT a Beckett! I have the OEM specs for this burner on the V1 series boilers, and Glenn can get you almost anything else.

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