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Posted by Anton on September 26, 2005 at 23:54:21:
I have a 50+ year old Burnham Jubilee boiler, 20ish burner oil steam heat single pipe system. I live in 100 yr old, 2 story, 2200 sqft poorly insulated home in upstate NY. I have electric hot water heat.
The boiler shows much signs of wear. We were filling 275 gal tank about every 3 weeks last winter. There are increasing maintenance issues, water level doesn't stay low enough (constant over feeding, and water hammer), part of some shrowd inside boiler has disentegrated(excessive noise and smoke blowback into the house), .. I'm concerned about high oil prices (as are everyone), and that its just a matter of time when it rusts away and water fills the basement during some cold winter day.
Is it time to replace? I am interested in any guidance some experts here may have.
I have a fairly reputable tech giving me an estimate that includes adding a Hartford Loop, a Water Filtration system (we have bad water in the village). Tech recommends a Weil McLain SGO-6 oil/steam boiler.
I will try to insulate house more as well. Current estimate is ~10k for new boiler/burner. Is that way too high of an estimate? Should I just keep babying the old system until it croaks, and continue to upgrade insulation? Any feedback greatly appreciated. Thanks