Step 1 : I know very little about OWB. Thinking about getting one for our northern Mi. home. Its a 1300 sq. Ft. Ranch style. Is buying a used one a bad idea ? Sizing also puzzles me. I have a 30x32 pole barn also... But its unfinished inside. I may want to heat this some at a later date. Is one big enough for that going to be a huge problem if I only heat the house ? Many questions to come.
I would be very leery of buying a used one. Not saying it's a totally bad idea, but there could be lots of potential issues lurking.
When we changed out our 14+ year old boiler it did not leak. I had it sitting on a trailer strapped down and told everyone interested in it they could use the trailer to take the boiler to their home (trailer was only about 14" from the ground). Guy bought it, he lived about 9 miles away. Told him to take it slow, unload it easy so it wouldn't get stressed and shaken bad. Within a half an hour he was back with the empty trailer! It leaked, he blamed me.
Nitrodave , I just put in a boiler rated to heat "up to" 5000sf. I'm 2400. I have no science to back this up, but a lot of anecdotal evidence from others that the rating assumes a structure so tight that if you fart the window bulges a little. Not my place so I doubled the sf. Go too big & the fire can actually go out to the point it won't reignite due to long cycle times. There are so many variables that it's hard to gauge. I bought the least complicated system available to avoid any electronic/proprietary parts issues. Caveat: My boiler has not had a fire in it yet, new in June. Rated at the same BTU as my old wood furnace which did the job well even before insulation & window upgrades. Should be plenty. My goal was 2X day loading & outdoor mess/space. As for used, I almost went that way, but opted for new for about $1200.00 more. You're pretty mechanical so I wouldn't be afraid of used other than firebox burn/rust through & leaking. Costly to fix & not super long lasting repairs from what I know. If you have a back up heat source give it a try while installing for the long haul. Good pex & electrical etc. Swapping in a new unit at that point is quick & "easy". Hope this helps confuse you even more.
There is a risk buying used, but I did it and would do it again. I'd stick to stainless steel boilers because they are less likely to leak and you won't have to worry about it rusting out. My Hardy H4 is from 1992 and works just fine. I laugh when guys brag about mild steel boilers being 10/15 years old. You can find plenty of used Hardy and Heatmor boilers. I'll actually have an H4 for sale here in another month or so. I found a couple deals when looking for a boiler, so bought two. Buying used a lot of time can mean it comes with accessories like heat exchangers, pipe, etc. I saved a lot of money getting stuff like that with my boilers.
Stainless if used... Gotcha. This is all in the dreaming stages still. Trying to keep the mess out of the house. I could image the mess with 2 pups that like sticks as much as these 2 do.
Sent a post about radiant floor heat. If you can see a used boiler setup, in operation, it is something to observe. The correct setup/installation is the most critical part of a owb. Most individuals have no idea about the chemical equations that are about to come into the picture. Hard water is definitely something to avoid. Since most owb are in rural areas, most do not think about the chemical reactions of the minerals in the water. I had no idea myself until working with a church Baptistery. Chlorine reacts with any iron in the water, it will make a brown sediment on the bottom. Chlorine does not like heat, heat kills chlorine, so if heating a pool is part of your project, bromine is the oxidizer to usd in a spa, hottub, or heated pool. These chemicals also react with impurities inside the metal of your owb. Get a good sample of your water supply, and get a good expensive report of All elements in your supply. I have seen chlorine bleach eat a hole in a stainless steel cooking pan. Most leaks that develope in OWB are from chemical reactions, because of impurities in the metal, not actual workmanship in the building. I dont know of any manufacturers that x-ray all of the metal before they build. So the source of your initial fill, and your make up water is one very important place to spend some time. It can save major headaches later. I am a journeyman maintenance person, with over 40 years experience. Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
