Posted by jtown on August 22, 2001 at 06:43:34:
In Reply to: Advise for a new residential, gas fired steam boiler posted by Drew Blanch on August 20, 2001 at 20:06:15:
Why replace your boiler? A new one isn't going to save as much as you might think. If you have two-pipe steam you might be able to stick with the existing radiators and piping, other than the wet returns. If you get the load down and save your money for the four years, you could convert then or later and need a much smaller boiler. As far as steam piping being a loss, it isn't too bad if it is within conditioned space anyways. If you want your basement heated, it all is. One place you can save is shut the thing off (or lower stat)as early in the year as possible and keep a cardigan or zipped sweatshirt handy. If your stat drifts below (70) for two hours on a warm day, a steam boiler might use that 2 hrs to raise your house that one degree. A modern system would do it much sooner.