My home inspector advised me to have my gas boiler cleaned before putting it to use. That was in early 2009. Last week, I followed through. (Mike Holmes would be totally miffed that I put it off.)
I hadn’t been having any problems with her, luckily. The unit IS about 60-years old, but I’ve been told that if they last this long, they’re bound to outlive humans*, so we’ll keep her for now. Even though it wasn’t showing signs of distress, I called in some backup last week to make sure that it would stand a chance at getting me through one (or hopefully a few) more winters. I’d probably be better off getting a new gas furnace (at least I could save some money when tax filing for the year). Anyhow, here I am, being a blurry Vanna White of the basement. (*totally unreliable, but optimistic source.)
Side note: More so than focusing on the boiler, check out my new slippers. They’re fantastic. Marshall’s. $35. Minnetonka faux-fur happiness. Highly recommended. Also, that’s the wool scarf I bought in Mexico (I wrote about it here); happy that it’s finally cool enough to bring it out. I’m a scarf fiend.
My boiler’s healthcare plan aside, I did get a few referrals for local companies that would do a good job tuning it up. I hired a company with excellent credentials and an affordable rate (my bill was $116), so late last week (same day that I was doing cartwheels about my big DIY Network launch) we had a local company, Isaac Heating setting up shop in the basement. Warning: Blurry iPhone photos in poor lighting.
The best part of our first boiler cleaning is that we learned a lot about how the radiant heat system worked, what exposed pipes in the basement were directly part of the system, and why/how it was considerably more efficient than other heating options. The water that flows through the radiators in our house, for example, pipes in at upwards of 160-degrees, unlike forced air, which tends to cool down to 90-degrees before entering the room. Translate: It takes a little longer to heat a room, but once it’s warm, it takes a good while time to cool down.
Check out them burners, post-clean-out. Looks a lot like your everyday griddle burners, and thinking about that makes me yearn for some pancakes.
Despite the fact that it looks its age and I had nothing to do with its installation or maintenance to date, it was nice to hear our technician compliment the simplicity of the system and its condition. He found some leaks that he patched with high-temperature sealant, so we like knowing that it’ll be running a little more efficiently too. Thank you, thank you very much.
Fun fact: HVAC is a foreign concept to me. I’ve only ever lived with radiant heating, and have never met a bigger fan of radiators than myself.
Here’s to hoping that it hangs in there for awhile longer.
Anyone else snuggled against their radiator keeping warm today?
12 Comments
I was totally going to comment on the slippers! (And the scarf.)
Down here in Florida, I only know HVAC systems (I use the term loosely, because “understand” is another matter completely). We are planning to install radiant heat in the guest bath, though it’s not the same kind of radiant heat.
Glad everything is in good working order!
Slippers. Awesome sauce. Wearing them now/still. You’re going to be sleeping in your bathroom once that heated floor is installed; my parents splurged on it for their bathroom renos a few years ago and it’s totally awesome. Absolutely worth it. Excited for you!
I am totally going to be sleeping on the bathroom floor! Heck, if I get tired of that (or the weather gets to warm) might sleep IN the new bathtub, because that thing is sex-y (for a bathtub).
Oops, I meant “too warm”. Once again my excitement caused me to misspell.
Haha, I had to correct two typos in my last post. Something about warmth and slippers and radiant heat, apparently.
Exactly! :)
Now that I live in San Fran, land of inefficient heaters and non-insulation, I couldn’t miss my Park Ave radiator more! Like a jungle in winter, it would keep us really toasty!
Apartment radiators were the best. Mostly because as a tenant, I was never allowed to control the thermostat. The cool snowy breeze always felt great when we left the windows open to cool the place off.
Glad to hear your boiler is in tip-top condition (or as close as can be for a 60yr old unit)! Sometimes the not-so glorious fixes are the most necessary (even if they are put off). My husband is an HVAC/R technician and he absolutely haaaaaaaaaaates boilers, radiators and radiant heat while I like the jungle heat & warm floors offered from rads, so this post made me laugh just for that.
Me too! I don’t actually know how fast these things deteriorate (is it going to be healthy, healthy, healthy, and then suddenly dead, or endure a long sickness and then poop out?). And to clarify – does he hate cleaning them/dealing with them or does know something we don’t know and have good reason to hate the hot hot heat?
hey i would like to comment on the slippers: AWESOME! i <3 Minnetonka!!! I want a pair of the 3 layer fringe boots!
Thanks Rach!