40 year old HW boiler w/base board heat
I bought a house ,built in 1950,that has a gas fired hot water boiler with base board fin tube heat.I’ve been on construction sites every workng day for the last 22 years and after studying this installation I have no idea what I’m looking at.The boiler and BB were installed in the late 60’s.The previous homeowner was a mill hunky DIY’er(not that there’s anything wrong with that) and the framing took a real beating for all of the pipework he put in,plus,some of the component connections(at the circulator,expansion tank) look pretty rusty.There appear to be four zones,and the zone valves look like they have been replaced recently.So,preliminary questions:The boiler gauge says the water temperature is 220 degrees and the pressure gauge seems to indicate 18 PSI(I’m in N.E.Ohio).Do these figures sound right?Life expectancy for a HW boiler?I’d like to have central AC, and I don’t like the baseboards making all the furniture stick out from the wall,so I’m thinking of gutting it and going to forced air with new ductwork.Any experienced opinions?Thank you.
Barry
Replies
Locally a forced air HVAC averages $4-6K per unit in new construction....a retro will run a lot more and is usually T&M. A new boiler will be around $1k plus install and you still have a very good RBB system that keeps a house toasty at an efficient cost.
Look at covering the AC needs with a high velocity unit in the attic/ceiling-- or AC only forced air in the basement. Sort of depends on your layout and what you wish to install on your own or have contracted.
Boiler temp of 220 seems a little high, but the aquastat may have been tweaked for some reason. If the old boiler seems okay....it may run for another 30 years or 30 days....have it checked out and then decide.
.............Iron Helix
good advice