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Hey all,
So we'd like to put in a high efficiency gas boiler. Our house already has a gas line for our stove and hot water, so thankfully we don't need major underground work done. One highly reccomended plumber told me that if I want the high efficency boiler put in, then he would want to remove our hot water tank (which is only 2 years old) and replace it with an indirect water heater. What do you think about sticking with our current heater but asking him to leave the connections for an indirect water heater when our current one wears down?
Also, he discussed a chimney liner, which will add over $1,000 to the job, but I've read that with high efficiency boilers, you can run a PVC pipe outside to get rid of the exhaust and seal up your chimney. Any thoughts on this? Safety, Aesthetics, etc?
Finally, he wants to remove our above ground oil tanks (another $1,000+) which are in a crawl space underneath a sunroom. The tanks are not in the way of anything, and I'm thinking we don't need to remove them now, and maybe not ever. Thoughts on this?
Any other ideas to keep costs down? We've considered a lower effiicency boiler, but we plan to be in the home for at least the next 20 years, so we want to get the best we can.
Unless the existing gas hot water heater is on a separate flue I would lean toward taking your plumber's suggestion and yanking it out to go with the indirect unit. Better to get rid of any non-high efficiency stuff. I also would prefer to get the new unit exhausted through PVC (and have an outside combustion air intake too), unless the chimmney that is serving the existing boiler has multiple flues like for wood burning fireplace or something -- even then I do not like to reline if side exhaust is feasible... Be sure you and he are on the same page -- it may be that you are talking about a complete "closed combustion" condensing boiler and he merely looking at "high efficency" non-condensing. Prices can be pretty far apart AS WELL AS the fact that with older homes the shear energy loss through lesss than state of the art weather sealing / insulating might mean your contractor's suggestions make more sense. Your gas bill won't be as low as wth the most high tech unit, but your upfront costs should be lower, you will have better comfort and you won't overwork an undersized boiler -- all things that the contractor may have learned from experience with trying to utilize the most advanced units in a house that really was energy sieve...
As to the tanks, the "right thing to do" is always to get rid of them BEFORE they cause a problem. Now if your crawlspace is water tight AND the tanks are properly drained / sealed MAYBE you can get by with leaving 'em in place BUT believe me when it is time to sell the inspector will spot 'em and the buyer will want 'em out and if they fall apart and even an ounce of fuel oil spills you are looking at a NIGHTMARE of EPA certfied remeadiation that might mean digging through your whole yard / tearing down the sunroom...
Chet, thanks for your reply. To clarify, he was suggesting a 95% condensing boiler.
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