samuel_a
New Member
Hey Guys, I live in Eastern Massachusetts and my home is around 2900 sq ft. I bought this home last year during fall (Built 1988) and my last winter gas bills were skyrocketing. I knew that I had to replace the boiler at some point when I purchased the home but looking at the last year winter bills I'm now seriously contemplating of replacing my existing boiler with a more efficient one(95% AFUE). My current boiler is a Burnham 136K BTU boiler with 5 zones. I have 40-gallon hot water tank powered by Gas and Cooking Range powered by Gas too.
Baseboard sizing below,
Zone 1 - 44' | Zone 2 - 39' | Zone 3 - 33' | Zone 4 - 29' | Zone 5 - 34'
Energy Consumption:
Dec - 332 Therms | Jan - 344 Therms | Feb - 309 Therms | Mar - 219 Therms
My summer usage for water heating and cooking averages around 50 therms/month.
I had Mass save perform an energy assessment and added more insulation in my attic. I'm hoping this should help in some kind of energy saving this year. As my boiler is nearing the end of life, I would like to replace it before the winter and avoid any kind of emergency replacement during the winter. I'm in the process of sourcing quotes from multiple contractors. I'm trying to educate myself with everything that I find on the internet regarding boilers to make a decision and I still consider myself a novice in this field. Appreciate any kind of comments which would help me make a better decision on my boiler replacement.
Couple of questions,
1. Is it a good idea to replace my current boiler with a combi boiler/water heater? The reason I'm asking this is that my current vent would be too big for just the water heater to vent out once the boiler is replaced. I need to add a liner through the chimney to support the water heater venting and looks like the cost to add the liner would close to replacing the water heater with a power venting heater.
2. If combi units are a bad idea, should I go with indirect water heater or electric/gas with power venting?
3. What brands of boilers should I consider? Based on my analysis, I was thinking of going with Bosch Greenstar. Is it a good or bad idea?
4. How should I size my boiler? Many contractors were sizing the boiler based on the length of my baseboards. Is it good enough?
Please feel free to chime in on anything that I need to look for while assessing the different brands and models.
Baseboard sizing below,
Zone 1 - 44' | Zone 2 - 39' | Zone 3 - 33' | Zone 4 - 29' | Zone 5 - 34'
Energy Consumption:
Dec - 332 Therms | Jan - 344 Therms | Feb - 309 Therms | Mar - 219 Therms
My summer usage for water heating and cooking averages around 50 therms/month.
I had Mass save perform an energy assessment and added more insulation in my attic. I'm hoping this should help in some kind of energy saving this year. As my boiler is nearing the end of life, I would like to replace it before the winter and avoid any kind of emergency replacement during the winter. I'm in the process of sourcing quotes from multiple contractors. I'm trying to educate myself with everything that I find on the internet regarding boilers to make a decision and I still consider myself a novice in this field. Appreciate any kind of comments which would help me make a better decision on my boiler replacement.
Couple of questions,
1. Is it a good idea to replace my current boiler with a combi boiler/water heater? The reason I'm asking this is that my current vent would be too big for just the water heater to vent out once the boiler is replaced. I need to add a liner through the chimney to support the water heater venting and looks like the cost to add the liner would close to replacing the water heater with a power venting heater.
2. If combi units are a bad idea, should I go with indirect water heater or electric/gas with power venting?
3. What brands of boilers should I consider? Based on my analysis, I was thinking of going with Bosch Greenstar. Is it a good or bad idea?
4. How should I size my boiler? Many contractors were sizing the boiler based on the length of my baseboards. Is it good enough?
Please feel free to chime in on anything that I need to look for while assessing the different brands and models.