Should I upgrade my Heating System, Suggestions? (floor, how much, heater)

[JoeMenardo]

Hi, I live in Mass. My heater is on it's way out and I'd like to replace it this summer. I currently have an oil boiler with radiators throughout the house. The house was built about 100 years ago is about 1600 sf with an unfinished basement. I've already got a bid for around 7k to replace the oil burner to a gas one. Is this the best way to spend this money or should I spend more and upgrade the system? Any help would be appreciated.

[thecoalman]

Coal. ... and no it's not what you're thinking. A coal stoker is no different than a oil or gas boiler except for a few minutes work every couple of days.

7K would get you something like a Keystoker boiler installed, for 1600 sq. foot you'd need about 4 to 5 ton per heating season. If you tell me how many gallons of oil you used last year I can narrow it down more.

You'd have to check local rates but probably about $250 per ton. Somwhere in the neighborhood of $1000 to $1250 per year and that includes domestic hot water. You can it much cheaper if you want to make the trip to Northeastern Pennsylvania, many do because Mass. isn't that far.

I posted a lot of information here in this post:

//www.city-data.com/forum/house...ers-guide.html

[JoeMenardo]

Thanks for the suggestion. But I don't think I could sell it to my wife and I'd be concerned with the extra workload (2 kids). I was considering a forced air or baseboard heating system. But was not sure if it were worth the extra cost.

Thanks.

[K'ledgeBldr]

If the house was built a century ago- I'll assume there is no insulation in the walls, minimal to non-existent in the attic, and nothing in the floor (basement ceiling).
What about the doors and windows? Insulated glass, steel or f/glass insulated doors?

If you're not at this point- go with the cheapest fuel source you can, for obvious reasons.
If you are at that point, a high efficiency gas-force air system will be the best overall efficient system.

[thecoalman]

Originally Posted by JoeMenardo

Thanks for the suggestion. But I don't think I could sell it to my wife

Yes the wife might be a tough sell but take her on a cruise with all the money you save. Actually most of the wives seem happy with it once they see how nice coal heat is and the savings, I can understand them being leery.

and I'd be concerned with the extra workload (2 kids).

I won't lie and say it's no added work but you're looking at a few minutes each day. How much really depends on the season. For example we ran ours year round, during the summer you have to mess with it once every two weeks or so. Winter time might be once every two days. We ran it in the summer because it was cheaper for the hot water and you should try and run a coal boiler 24/7/365 because they will last much longer. A good coal boiler might got 30 or 40 years if ran seasonally but can easily go 50, 60 or even 70 if ran continuously.

This is an efm with auger feed, the garbage pail to the left is where the coal is fed from. They only have a small pail for demonstration purposes but it could be a 55 gallon drum which is plenty for 3 or 4 days of operation. The small door on the bottom is where you take the ashes out, it's designed to fit a standard sized galvanized tub. Ashes go right into the tub.




That's an efm model which is about $9K but it's a "Cadillac" especially with the auger feed. The Keystoker I mentioned operates slightly different with an attached hopper. They start at about $5K

I was considering a forced air or baseboard heating system.

You mentioned radiators, personally I'd hold onto them with both hands if you're buying any boiler.