Gas company's boiler installers

michael_15

The pictured boiler was installed very shortly before I purchased my current home. You'll notice the somewhat dinky 1.25" equalizer, the Hartford loop a few inches above the center of the gauge glass, and the header (boy I wish it were bigger than 2") only about 16-17 inches above the center of the gauge glass. If you're wondering why the header takeoff is at 45 deg. rather than 90 deg., it's probably because one of the steam mains (both from the same takeoff) is counterflow and cleverly pours condensate back into the header. The radiators do quite a bit of panting, which I am guessing is because of the condensate flow partially blocking the header takeoff every now and then.

Anyway, I (stupidly, perhaps) thought maybe there was some kind of installer's warranty and I could call the original installer to fix the issues before hiring someone else to fix it. I called the city (Cambridge, MA) to ask who pulled the permit and found that no permit was ever requested or issued. Since the boiler has written on it "installed by NSTAR" with the install date, I figured I could call NSTAR and ask who they subbed out.

NSTAR told me it was pointless to ask because the boiler was piped correctly -- that's what city permits and inspectors are for. I told them there was no permit and asked again who they got to do the install. After some shuffling, they told me a company called [name witheld, let's call them "XYZ Co."] did the install. However, even after repeated requests, they wouldn't provide me with any contact info. Instead, they asked for my phone number and told me they would call the company and have them call me, which hasn't happened.

XYZ Co.'s name just so happens to have the word "Burnham" in it. However, it's not Burnham Hydronics and if it were, I'd assume that at the very least my header would be several inches higher since that's what the manual says. I can't find the company name anywhere on the web or in the phone book.

Does NSTAR actually just do the installs themselves and pretend it's a separate company? Should I ever expect a call from this XYZ Co.? I've sort of given up at this point on any sort of warranty, and when I find the money somewhere I plan to hire someone to repipe the boiler.

-Michael

Constantin

That's a shame...

...From what I can tell, it often it takes just as much effort to do an improper as a proper boiler installation. From your description, it would appear that this boiler is not installed properly.

I also worry about all the wood chips and other debris fouling this boiler. It wouldn't be the first time that a boiler with a fouled burner tube would start emitting a lot of CO...

I would pursue the matter with the help of the city. In my experience, the inspection department is quite good and is staffed with motivated people. I'm pretty certain that installers who skirt the rules and skimp on permits won't be high on the Christmas-card list...

I am not a lawyer, but it's doubtful, that NStar will get deeply involved given that their handing off the installation job to the lowest bidder makes them a third party.

It might also help to contact Glenn Stanton to get at these guys from multiple directions and convince them that it's in their best interest to make the install right.

Firedragon_4

Call

one of the local TV consumer reporters, FACT!

ed wallace

gas co install

thats better then most nstar installs as for permit inspection all the inspector looks at is the gas piping

Boiler Guy

Right on Constantin

My father alway taught me: If you can't take the time to do a job right the first time .... how the heck are you gonna find the time to do it over!!??

And the people wonder why they can't get anyone to respond to their concerns. Those installers are too busy doing it wrong again.

Another thing I remember my fater saying: If you do things bad enough .... you soon won't get asked to do it at all!!
Why does this never seem to hold true for hacksters??

michael_15

I thought I remembered

A while ago that a professional posted about having the city inspector reject the installation because they didn't recognize the drop header. . . or is looking at the steam piping portion a city-by-city thing?

-Michael

ed wallace

rejected steam header

that was on long island ny that the dropped header was rejected in ma the gas inspecter only looks at gas piping nothing more

michael_15

An update, in case you're wondering

So NSTAR (with some prodding) got the original installer of my boiler to come back to look over and fix the problems with my piping. He came today.

He was extremely friendly and of course willing to fix the mistakes for free, since the piping is clearly wrong according to the instruction manual. Which made me feel better.

In any event, I'm not going to have him come and do pro bono work in my basement, since, well, I'm not sure he should really have to. I guess I really wanted to see if he would be willing to. I think I didn't know what I wanted until after the fact.

Besides, I'd rather have an expert fix things. This particular fellow made some head-scratching remarks like "woah, is that an air vent? That looks weird," in reference to the Gorton#1 which he'd never seen one of before, and "well, you know, it's steam -- it's archaic, so you can't expect it to be efficient."

He did comment that the I'm not using an unusually large amount of fuel to heat the home compared to other homes in the area, though. I don't know if this is true or not, but my gas bill sure seemed high to me. I used about 140 therms per month in January/February to heat around 900 square feet of living space. (Boston; 900-1100 degree days/month)

-Michael