2 Family Heating System Replacement
We usually get feedback from customers and potential new clients after publishing these videos. But in this case the homeowner, Mark, did a cameo where he offered feedback in real time. Watch the video and we’ll provide more details about this project below.
Relief From High Oil Cost
High oil prices over the years has caused many homeowners to seek relief. In this case the Winthrop homeowner has a two family house so paying for fuel oil meant paying double as there were two oil fired oil boilers. As Ken points out in the video the boilers were well-made Burnham boilers which were among the best when they were installed about 30 years ago.
At some point a decision was made to attach a gas conversion unit to each of these boilers. Those boilers, having been installed in the 80’s would have been about 70% efficient. Adding the gas conversion devices would make them a bit less efficient but the loss would be more than made up with the switch from a high priced fuel–oil–to a lower cost fuel–natural gas.
Modifying the original equipment served this homeowner well. He saved money on his fuel bill for a period of years. But eventually the situation deteriorated to where major issues needed to be addressed, including the leakage of carbon monoxide from the system. This is the point at which homeowners need expert advice.
Finding A Reputable Heating Contractor
In the video Mark wanted to say a few words about the difficulties of finding the right heating contractor. He actually consulted with several but, as he explained it, each has their own solution–which might be fine–but he’s making a big investment and wanted to have a comfortable understanding of the whole process.
He got that from Ken, the owner of Absolute Precision Plumbing Heating & Cooling. Ken’s recommendation to go with two Burnham Alpine 95% efficient gas boilers along with dedicated indirect fired hot water tanks made sense. With this setup Mark would qualify for rebates and incentives through Mass Save as well as 0% financing.
Mark stated that he liked the fact that Ken was forthcoming throughout the process. He also indicated he was surprised when Ken informed him that Winthrop is not in Absolute Precision’s service area but he really appreciated the honesty. Ken’s concern was not about the installation but the regular service which would need to be performed regularly by a trained Burnham Alpine technician.
Technically Winthrop is on the North Shore. Absolute Precision has a dedicated service area which is loosely described as the North Shore of Boston. Rather than leave the servicing to chance it was decided that Absolute Precision would handle it going forward.
Cast Iron Radiators
In the video, with the new Burnham Alpine system installed, Ken walks us through some of the components which should always be installed on such systems but often aren’t. The low water cutoff and carbon monoxide detector are required by code for example.
This home in Winthrop is typical of many older dwellings in the Boston area in that it still has cast iron radiators. For that reason Absolute Precision installed a Fernox Sumo filter on the return. It’s a Hydrocyclonic and magnetic in-line system filter to remove magnetic and non-magnetic contaminants before they can get into and clog the heat exchanger.
We hope you enjoyed the video. It was a pleasure to have Mark join us. Homeowners who are interested in High Efficiency heating should get in touch at 978-774-8835.
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