How old is to old?

[jbrock]

How old is to old for a boiler? Mine is at least 50 years old and starting to have some minor problems. Should i fix or replace?

[KField]

50 is way too old to spend more than a few dollars on. Even though you didn't tell us what fuel you use, no matter what, there have been significant improvements in all areas of heating equipment and the sizing alone was usually overestimated 50 years ago as opposed to today. Get a few quotes and make sure they measure the connected radiation (if it is steam), and do a heatloss on the building.

Ken

[George2002]

I have seen some go out after 9 years and I have seen others last well over 40 years. Supposely, many older ones were cast iron while many new ones are steel. I have a Utica cast iron one and its about 15 years old or so. If you keep adding fresh water to it due to a leak or because you think that getting rid of old water and adding new water is good, some say you are cutting years from its life. How long would you guys say is avg. life expectancy anyway?? Any comments contrary are encouraged.... I got lots to learn... lol.

[KField]

It is hard to judge based on age alone. I have a few boilers that are 40 years old and because they were serviced every year and kept clean, they look like new, inside and out. For oil systems, a new burner in the last 15 years will add many useable years to the boiler too. It is the ones that fire against a blocked flue or regularly get plugged with soot and scale for one reason or another that get old before their time. Proper adjustment keeps the boiler from working outside its design limits and that is good for it also. I have seen boilers only a few years old that were sloppily installed and leakage was allowed to go on without repair. A boiler like that won't see 10 years before it becomes a problem child. So when someone buys a boiler, they really should buy a boiler job. There is more to a professional installation than 2 pipes and 2 wires. A lot of impending problems can be averted by a good installation. Some people will take the advice and get a better unit and all the problems repaired and others prefer to just get a boiler and sit it in place of the old one. It is really up to the homeowner but every homeowner deserves a an educatrion on boilers and systems before the quote.

Ken