We are likely buying a house with a boiler and radiators. We are trying to decide if we should keep them and upgrade to a new high efficiency boiler. The radiators are in good condition and do not limit where we put furniture. We are mostly concerned with maintenance and efficiency. If you have the type of heating system what to you do for cooling? Have you heard about ductless mini splits? TIA
I know nothing about radiators and boilers, but I have a Mitsubishi ductless mini split in my studio. It is wonderful.
We stayed at a Japanese ryoken several years ago and had one in our room. It worked really well to heat the room in the freezing February weather. Note- unless you want to freeze, do not go to Japan in February.
We have hot water boiler heat and baseboard radiators. We love it. The heat is so much nicer than forced air. However, we aren't loving the window AC units we need to use to cool the house. So inefficient. We are looking at adding a separate AC system in the attic and it will be about $16-17K. Ugh! But we have a ranch that is kind of sprawling so mini-splits won't work for us since we would need something crazy like 3 or 4 units and that still wouldn't cool all the bedrooms with the doors closed. That would put the cost higher than a forced air system.
Replacing a boiler is expensive. Like for us, it would be over $10-12K per the plumber that came to service it this past window so until we have a real problem, it is staying.
We have hot water boiler heat and baseboard radiators. We love it. The heat is so much nicer than forced air. However, we aren't loving the window AC units we need to use to cool the house. So inefficient. We are looking at adding a separate AC system in the attic and it will be about $16-17K. Ugh! But we have a ranch that is kind of sprawling so mini-splits won't work for us since we would need something crazy like 3 or 4 units and that still wouldn't cool all the bedrooms with the doors closed. That would put the cost higher than a forced air system.
Replacing a boiler is expensive. Like for us, it would be over $10-12K per the plumber that came to service it this past window so until we have a real problem, it is staying.
We have a wood burning boiler with baseboard radiators, and we love it. It is a pain to have to feed the wood but the heat that it give is so nice. Ours is over 30 years old but we are hesitant to fix it if it isn't completely broken yet due to the cost. When it does go, the newer ones are so much more efficient, I'm sure.
Our home is an old farmhouse that is 5500 sq. ft. We have a backup propane system but we couldn't afford to heat it using only propane.
Post by thatgirl2478 on Aug 3, 2015 21:27:05 GMT -5
My parents have steam radiators. I love visiting there in the winter because the air isn't super dry like it is at my house.
As far as maintenance, their boiler is about 100 years old (maybe older, the house was built in 1855 - but I think the boiler was replaced at one point) so that's going to play into their maintenance. My Dad has a whole series of steps that he runs through once a week to make sure the boiler is operating at peak performance including checking his site glass to make sure his water level is right (if it's too high he pulls off some water, if it's too low he adds some water). Periodically he'll empty off the bottom few gallons to keep the rust from building up (again, old system) and once a year he puts an additive in to keep the scale down.
I THINK that steam systems have more maintenance demands than hot water heating systems though.
Now, that said, for many years they lived without AC (well, window units in the bedroom). Now they have a spacepack unit - high velocity a/c - it uses mini ducts that can be run through the wall with small round outlets vs giant rectangular vents that are normally associated with forced air. They did it for practical & aesthetic reasons: the 2nd floor is virtually inaccessible thanks to a finished 3rd floor, they didn't want to break out walls to run normal ducts, they didn't want to impose the modern look on to their antique house, etc.
However, if you have a house with an accessible attic and accessible basement (if you have 2 main floors of living space) you can usually retro fit a standard a/c system which is less expensive that a high velocity system.
We have hot water boiler heat and baseboard radiators. We love it. The heat is so much nicer than forced air. However, we aren't loving the window AC units we need to use to cool the house. So inefficient. We are looking at adding a separate AC system in the attic and it will be about $16-17K. Ugh! But we have a ranch that is kind of sprawling so mini-splits won't work for us since we would need something crazy like 3 or 4 units and that still wouldn't cool all the bedrooms with the doors closed. That would put the cost higher than a forced air system.
Replacing a boiler is expensive. Like for us, it would be over $10-12K per the plumber that came to service it this past window so until we have a real problem, it is staying.
We have a wood burning boiler with baseboard radiators, and we love it. It is a pain to have to feed the wood but the heat that it give is so nice. Ours is over 30 years old but we are hesitant to fix it if it isn't completely broken yet due to the cost. When it does go, the newer ones are so much more efficient, I'm sure.
Our home is an old farmhouse that is 5500 sq. ft. We have a backup propane system but we couldn't afford to heat it using only propane.
WOW! Wood burning?! How frequently do you have to feed it wood?
We have a wood burning boiler with baseboard radiators, and we love it. It is a pain to have to feed the wood but the heat that it give is so nice. Ours is over 30 years old but we are hesitant to fix it if it isn't completely broken yet due to the cost. When it does go, the newer ones are so much more efficient, I'm sure.
Our home is an old farmhouse that is 5500 sq. ft. We have a backup propane system but we couldn't afford to heat it using only propane.
WOW! Wood burning?! How frequently do you have to feed it wood?
Every few hours. If we completely fill it before we go to bed, the fire is out by the time we wake up. If one of us wakes up in the middle of the night, we'll go downstairs and refill. It really isn't bad.
WOW! Wood burning?! How frequently do you have to feed it wood?
Every few hours. If we completely fill it before we go to bed, the fire is out by the time we wake up. If one of us wakes up in the middle of the night, we'll go downstairs and refill. It really isn't bad.
You are braver than me I don't plan on going into our basement! I am having the plumbing routed upstairs so I can have a 2nd floor laundry room.
My parents have steam radiators. I love visiting there in the winter because the air isn't super dry like it is at my house.
As far as maintenance, their boiler is about 100 years old (maybe older, the house was built in 1855 - but I think the boiler was replaced at one point) so that's going to play into their maintenance. My Dad has a whole series of steps that he runs through once a week to make sure the boiler is operating at peak performance including checking his site glass to make sure his water level is right (if it's too high he pulls off some water, if it's too low he adds some water). Periodically he'll empty off the bottom few gallons to keep the rust from building up (again, old system) and once a year he puts an additive in to keep the scale down.
I THINK that steam systems have more maintenance demands than hot water heating systems though.
Now, that said, for many years they lived without AC (well, window units in the bedroom). Now they have a spacepack unit - high velocity a/c - it uses mini ducts that can be run through the wall with small round outlets vs giant rectangular vents that are normally associated with forced air. They did it for practical & aesthetic reasons: the 2nd floor is virtually inaccessible thanks to a finished 3rd floor, they didn't want to break out walls to run normal ducts, they didn't want to impose the modern look on to their antique house, etc.
However, if you have a house with an accessible attic and accessible basement (if you have 2 main floors of living space) you can usually retro fit a standard a/c system which is less expensive that a high velocity system.
We will have a huge attic that could be additional living space, thank you for this suggestion!!!! I also think they are steam radiators, we will have them thoroughly inspected and tested but I really want to update the boiler. We can get rebates from the manufacturer and from our gas company and I am nervous about going from barely 1200sq ft to 3600 sq ft plus a huge attic and basement. I am afraid my gas bill may be higher than my mortgage payment.
Thank you all for the input, keep it coming. I am new to all of this.
MittenState My gas bill went down when we moved into a house with a boiler. We went from 1200 sq ft gas forced air to 4000 sq ft gas hot water boiler and the bill was about 10% less for more than 3x the space. I couldn't believe it. And we don't even have a high efficiency model.
WOW! Wood burning?! How frequently do you have to feed it wood?
Every few hours. If we completely fill it before we go to bed, the fire is out by the time we wake up. If one of us wakes up in the middle of the night, we'll go downstairs and refill. It really isn't bad.
That would make me crazy. I'm clearly spoiled by steam radiators & forced air...How do you keep the house from freezing up in the winter? Or do you live somewhere that doesn't get super cold?
My parents have steam radiators. I love visiting there in the winter because the air isn't super dry like it is at my house.
As far as maintenance, their boiler is about 100 years old (maybe older, the house was built in 1855 - but I think the boiler was replaced at one point) so that's going to play into their maintenance. My Dad has a whole series of steps that he runs through once a week to make sure the boiler is operating at peak performance including checking his site glass to make sure his water level is right (if it's too high he pulls off some water, if it's too low he adds some water). Periodically he'll empty off the bottom few gallons to keep the rust from building up (again, old system) and once a year he puts an additive in to keep the scale down.
I THINK that steam systems have more maintenance demands than hot water heating systems though.
Now, that said, for many years they lived without AC (well, window units in the bedroom). Now they have a spacepack unit - high velocity a/c - it uses mini ducts that can be run through the wall with small round outlets vs giant rectangular vents that are normally associated with forced air. They did it for practical & aesthetic reasons: the 2nd floor is virtually inaccessible thanks to a finished 3rd floor, they didn't want to break out walls to run normal ducts, they didn't want to impose the modern look on to their antique house, etc.
However, if you have a house with an accessible attic and accessible basement (if you have 2 main floors of living space) you can usually retro fit a standard a/c system which is less expensive that a high velocity system.
We will have a huge attic that could be additional living space, thank you for this suggestion!!!! I also think they are steam radiators, we will have them thoroughly inspected and tested but I really want to update the boiler. We can get rebates from the manufacturer and from our gas company and I am nervous about going from barely 1200sq ft to 3600 sq ft plus a huge attic and basement. I am afraid my gas bill may be higher than my mortgage payment.
Thank you all for the input, keep it coming. I am new to all of this.
I wouldn't worry about your gas bill that much - my parents have always said that the gas bill was one of the smaller ones (and they have gas everything).