I woke up last Tuesday night to a cold room. So, like any bleary-eyed homeowner, I cranked up the thermostat, grabbed an extra blanket, and went back to sleep. I rushed off to work the next morning and didn't give it a thought. When I returned home that evening, I knew I had a problem. The thermostat said 60 degrees. Brrr! I snooped around my boiler in the basement. I made sure all the valves were open to the registers above, and I made sure the boiler was heating water. No red flags there. I started going around the house to feel the register covers. Some (like the living room) were ice cold. Others (like the bedrooms) were nice and toasty. Weird, huh? Could it be sediment? Maybe there's a blockage inside the pipes? I went on the Internet, and most sites were calling for the system to be "bled". So, I called someone the next morning.
The HVAC guy showed up Friday morning and commenced the "bleed". Basically you drain out all the old water and let new water fill in from the supply line. That's great, except he noticed that new water was filling in even when the old water wasn't leaving. Uh oh. I've got a leak somewhere. He poked around in the crawlspace and found a three-foot section of pipe that was dripping water. It had corroded to the point of failure. The holes let air into the system, and that means the hot water wasn't able to circulate properly. The air acts like a cork. The second thing he noticed was that the pump wasn't running. Uh oh. I've got a busted pump. It has probably been busted for a while, but I didn't notice because hot water circulates on its own to a certain degree. (Or it would if there wasn't air in the system.) The third thing he noticed was that the ignition switch on the boiler itself wasn't firing consistently. (I'd always hated its Tesla ZZZZZehhhhhhKK noise anyway.) So, he could fix all that for $1900. Or, I could get a whole new system (boiler, standing pilot, circulation pump, flue valve, and so on) for $4200.
I took the deal.
The HVAC guy showed up Friday morning and commenced the "bleed". Basically you drain out all the old water and let new water fill in from the supply line. That's great, except he noticed that new water was filling in even when the old water wasn't leaving. Uh oh. I've got a leak somewhere. He poked around in the crawlspace and found a three-foot section of pipe that was dripping water. It had corroded to the point of failure. The holes let air into the system, and that means the hot water wasn't able to circulate properly. The air acts like a cork. The second thing he noticed was that the pump wasn't running. Uh oh. I've got a busted pump. It has probably been busted for a while, but I didn't notice because hot water circulates on its own to a certain degree. (Or it would if there wasn't air in the system.) The third thing he noticed was that the ignition switch on the boiler itself wasn't firing consistently. (I'd always hated its Tesla ZZZZZehhhhhhKK noise anyway.) So, he could fix all that for $1900. Or, I could get a whole new system (boiler, standing pilot, circulation pump, flue valve, and so on) for $4200.
I took the deal.
Old boiler, circa 1985.He replaced the corroded pipe and installed a new pump before he left last Friday. So, I had good heat until he and another guy could come on Wednesday to do the big job.
New boiler.All the controls and pipes are on the left side on this one (between the boiler and water heater). That should make life fun for somebody.
