Blog

Elements of a Quality Home Boiler Installation

When warm weather arrives in the Denver metro area our plumbing team at Save Home Heat Company gets busy replacing hot water boilers for homeowners around the Littleton, Lakewood, Golden, Denver, Boulder, and Loveland-Longmont areas. Of course, we do this type of work all year long, but now is certainly one of the most convenient times of year to replace a boiler – since freezing temperatures are entirely removed from the equation.

Similar to a piece we wrote recently about forced air furnaces, this post will focus on the key aspects of a quality boiler replacement – which allow our team to achieve the greatest comfort levels, the most efficient performance, and the quietest operation possible for our customers. Equally important, our goal is to ensure safe, dependable operation for many years to come.

Getting to Know Our Customer

Before providing a quote for a new installation, our first step is to learn more about our customers and their priorities and concerns. This includes reviewing daily home heating patterns, and very important, potential future plans. For example, if you plan on remaining in the home for only five years before you upsize or downsize in a new locale, it doesn’t make sense to drop the big bucks on a premium system when a moderate efficiency boiler will fill your needs nicely in the short term.

Discussing The Current System

When we discuss the performance of the existing heating system the following questions often enter the mix: Does your boiler keep up with heating demand when temperatures outside get down into teens and single digits? Are there rooms in the home that don’t get warm enough, or have trouble heating up or keeping up? Do you hear any unusual noises (bubbling, gurgling, knocking…) coming from the boiler, mechanical room, or any of the baseboards or other heat distribution products around the house (such as radiators)? Are the existing thermostats doing their job to your liking? The list goes on.

Learning About Boiler Options

Our comfort advisors often discuss a variety of equipment options with our prospective customers. Proven replacement boilers are currently available with efficiency ratings ranging from 80% to 95% AFUE. We review models that offer features such as variable-capacity heat output, sidewall venting, sealed combustion designs that use outdoor air for combustion, and compact, wall-hung, space-saving models – as well as standard, gravity venting units that easily accommodate existing venting systems. The highest efficiency models are vented using solid core PCV pipe.

We also discuss the variety of materials that boiler sections are currently made of, including cast iron and stainless steel, which are most popular with our team and our customers.

Indirect Water Heaters, Radiant Floor & More

It’s not unusual that when a boiler is being replaced additional work is also included in the installation. This might include replacing old zone valves, repairing intermittent drips or leaks, mitigating noise in the system, expanding baseboard heater coverage – or even installing a high performance, indirect-fired water heater, modern radiators, or radiant floor heating for part of the home. Having this work done at the same as the boiler replacement can yield significant cost savings, in addition to increased comfort and efficiency.

Preparing an Installation Quote

Producing an installation quote starts with sizing the new boiler to match the needs of the home. In cases where the homeowner has been fully satisfied with the heating provided by the old boiler, it may not be necessary to provide a detailed heat load calculation for the home, simply calculating what BTU size boiler would be needed to meet or exceed the heating capacity of the existing equipment. However, our team is always glad to provide a heat load calculation for the peace of mind of our customers, if desired.

When sizing a new boiler, we account for several important factors that affect sizing. First is the efficiency of the new boiler (if more efficient, as is often the case, you may not need as large of a unit). We also consider the elevation of the home. There’s less oxygen up here than at sea level, which equates to less heat output than at sea level, and this is factored into our recommendations. All other things being equal, higher elevations require larger units than many other areas around the country. In the Denver-Boulder-Loveland metro area, the heating capacity of many boilers that we install falls between 100,000 and 200,000 BTUs per hour.

Addressing Problem Areas In Our Quote

In cases where the existing boiler’s heating capacity (BTU rating) is sufficient but certain areas in the home are not getting as warm as they should, we’ve found that this is often due to insufficient heat distribution in those rooms. Rather than recommending a larger boiler, issues in those specific zones can be addressed in several ways, often in the form of adding more baseboard heaters or upgrading existing ones to high-output heaters. New radiators sometimes come into play. We also consider whether the existing circulator pump is doing a good enough job, or if there may be piping configuration issues.

Finally, we provide a clear, detailed, printed (or emailed) installation quote that includes our recommendations and any options that have been discussed. From that point, we take the time to make sure our customer fully understands the quote, and address any questions that may arise – all in a friendly, highly informative, zero pressure manner.

Onsite: What to Expect the Day of Installation

Every step of the way, our plumbers and installers pay strict adherence to all manufacturer installation requirements and instructions, as well as the national Uniform Plumbing Code (UPC), Uniform Mechanical Code (UMC), and National Electrical Code (NEC). This is reflected in both our installation procedures and the many components we install along with the new boiler.

Here’s some examples of the standards that our team maintains in the field in all aspects of our installation work:

• All venting, plumbing, gas, and drain lines are securely supported, using proven products and procedures
• All condensate (slightly acidic water) produced by high efficiency equipment and their venting systems is either routed securely to a nearby floor drain, or into a condensate removal pump, to be pumped into the home’s drain system
• All venting materials, and the equipment itself, are installed to maintain required clearance from any type of combustible materials in the mechanical area and beyond
• The new boiler is located and positioned so as to make future servicing accessible and convenient for a service technician
• When necessary, the power disconnect switch for a system may need to be relocated for easy accessibility. In some cases, our team may need to install a new disconnect switch if there isn’t one existing (required by code). In the process, our team reconfirms the correct amperage rating of the fuse that’s contained in what’s typically called the “SSU switch” in our industry

Quality Components

Here’s some examples of the quality components that our team often installs when we install a new boiler:

Microbubble air eliminator. At Save Home Heat, our commitment to quality is reflected in every component we install – not just the boiler. One key example is the air elimination system. The air eliminator, located by the boiler, plays a vital role in removing air that naturally forms as water in the system heats up and cools down. It enables the system run quietly, efficiently, and reliably – helping to prevent issues such as uneven heating, or in extreme cases, a complete loss of heat due to an airlock in the system. We use modern, highly effective, microbubble air eliminators in every installation, known for being the most effective air elimination systems available. Working in concert with manually operated coin vents located around the home, the microbubble air eliminator is the heart of the system’s air elimination system.

Expansion tank. Another important component in a hot water heating system is the expansion tank, which is also located by the boiler. The expansion tank contains a rubber internal bladder, and accommodates the natural expansion and contraction of water (or antifreeze solution) in the close system as it heats and cools. We carefully size and install the proper expansion tank, which is matched to the heating capacity and volume of water in the system; this is frequently a #30 tank (4½ gallon capacity) for the systems our team works on.

Zone valves. As mentioned above, we often upgrade the zone valves in the system, which are also located adjacent to the boiler in the mechanical area. Zone valves work in tandem with the thermostats for each zone, opening hot water flow to that zone when the thermostat “calls” for heat. We continue to use Honeywell brand zone valves, known for their quality, reliability, serviceability, and track record.

Circulator Pumps. For pumping hot water thru the boiler and to the various heating zones, we install high quality circulator pumps from trusted brands like Grundfos and Taco. Grundfos pumps are commonly used for full-system circulation, while Taco models are often used for individual heating zones, when the system design requires those additional pumps (not always the case). Of note, variable-speed pumps continue to grow more popular in hot water heating systems, due to their more efficient, quieter operation, and the comfort benefits they provide.

Venting Materials. Lastly, we use only fully approved, professional grade venting materials, installed according to manufacturer specifications, building codes, and established safety standards. Whether the system requires solid-core PVC, stainless steel, or standard Type B vent pipe, our team ensures that all venting is installed with proper clearance from combustible materials, and is securely installed to stand the test of time.

Before We Depart Your Jobsite

Once we’ve completed the installation, we take the time to inspect our work, thoroughly clean up after ourselves (cleaner than we found it!), and fully test the system to ensure it works properly. We test system operation from all thermostats, as well as check all critical operating parameters at the boiler to make sure it’s operating as efficiently it should.

After Our Crew is Gone

But our job isn’t done after installation crew calls it good and departs the home. After our work is completed, there’s a number of final items that need to be addressed. These include:

• Rebate Processing: All utility company and manufacturer rebates, if appropriate, are submitted and are tracked by our team until the cash is in our customers’ hands
• Quality Control Follow-Up: Each of our customers receive an email after the work is complete, giving you an opportunity to grade our work and let us know if you have any outstanding issues or concerns. Our company owners closely review every survey that comes back from our customers and, if necessary, follow up with our customer in order to ensure their complete satisfaction with our work. On occasion, this may entail coming back out to the house to perform additional finish work
• Permit Closeout: We obtain a mechanical permit from the local building department for every boiler replacement our team performs. Our staff coordinates the final inspection with our customers, matching their availability with the inspector’s. We handle the scheduling and communication on both ends. If there’s an issue, we get involved in making things right

Please contact me to schedule a boiler replacement quote or a service call!