one riser or two?

DD_2

I have a Utica PEG 150C. I am going to have the
near-boiler piping redone due to a poor job by the
plumber who installed it. The piping has 2 risers as
per the manual, but the takeoffs are between the
risers rather than after the last riser. Two weeks
ago I had water coming out of my radiators (it also has to be skimmed; um, no skim ports...).

A new plumber, who knows his stuff, is offering me
two options: complete repiping while keeping the 2
risers, or a smaller repiping that eliminates one of
the risers. The difference in price is $500. He says
that he rarely sees Uticas with 2 risers. I
understand that with a single riser the boiler runs
less efficiently, but how big would the difference be?

There are 2 takeoffs from the header. I suppose in
the worst case my gas bill doubles because the boiler
has to run twice as long to deliver steam, but I
assume the actual number is somewhat below this. Any
ball park estimate of the percentage change in my
monthly gas bill (currently about $225 for heat) would
be appreciated.

Thanks
--DD

[Deleted User]

i would

repipe using both risers and a drop header...we use both risers always, even tho most of our jobs would have allowed us to use just one per the instructions..it just makes sense to use both, dryer steam and more stable waterline..