What to do

Terry_10

I'm struggling as what to do with my over sized four year old boiler and high heat bills. I'm receiving conflicting information. My boiler is a 350,000 btu. Weil-McLain and I've been told I really need a 175,000 btu unit. Is replacing this relatively new boiler with a proper sized unit my only answer, or is there any options with the current one. I'm being told that most likly I wouldn't see any benifits in replacing the older one. I've also been given suggestions of installing a vent damper and the newest one is a Tec-Marr thermostat.

Jason Horner

If a proper heat loss calculation was not done when the boiler was installed, get one done now.

If you didn't get one done by the installing contractor, ie. "Well your old boiler was 350,000 Btu so we'll give you the same thing", I'd suggest that you find a better contractor or two to do this for you. Check the Find A Professional section of The Wall for an independent pro near you, or call Weil-McLain for the rep in your area and ask for 3 companies he'd recommend.

If your boiler is way oversized, you are probably best off replacing it with a lower Btu capacity one, especially with the price of oil where it is today and if you are considering staying in that building for at least 3-4 more years. Otherwise I'd be tempted to let the next buyer deal with it, unless buyers in your area look carefully at fuel consumption (not $ spent).

If your bolier turns out to be more or less the correct size, have the contractor you choose investigate the controls on the boiler (assuming everything else is ok). If you don't have an outdoor reset control, get one and have the reset curve properly adjusted for your area's weather patterns. The reset will help save you money on oil.

Jason Horner

Forgot to add these other uses:

You could use this or a new boiler to heat your domestic hot water, its called indirect DHW. Eliminates a higher heating cost electric or other water heater.

If you don't melt the snow on your driveway, 350,000 btu's will melt a lot of snow for you.

or

You could get an outdoor hot tub or pool and keep it heated all winter. :-)

Dale

Hot water?

Steam or hot water? Steam would be the worst case, costing alot of fuel being so oversized, hot water you may be able to set up for constant circulation and use a bypass to protect against too cold return. I would guess the payback for changing would be 20 years at even todays fuel rates.