1. Regular Servicing: The best way to ensure your boiler is running efficiently is to get it serviced on a yearly basis. Don't leave it until it breaks down over winter!!!
Servicing the boiler will ensure that the boiler:
a) Is burning correctly
b) The gas pressure is correct - If the boiler is gas
c) The products of combustion are safely diluted and dispersed safely
d) Efficiency will be increased by ensuring the boiler is getting enough oxygen and that the burners are set-up correctly.

2. The Boiler is Correctly Flued: The correct fluing of the boiler will ensure the boilers products of combustion are correctly dispersed of and do not re-enter/enter the property

3. The Boiler has the Correct Ventilation: The correct ventilation will stop the dangerous levels of carbon monoxide being produced and ventilation will aid efficiency.

Tips on Boiler and Burner Maintenance

Modern HVAC systems quite often make use of a steam or hot water boiler for their source of heat. Because the boilers use fossil fuels, water and electricity, they are oftentimes the most costly portion of the HVAC system and can have the most costly repairs and maintenance.

A general knowledge of the operation of a boiler's burner can help you understand where costs can be reduced.

Most boilers have a burner that mixes air with a fossil fuel creating a fire that is sent into a combustion chamber and then through the remainder of the boiler's passes. As the fire travels through the boiler, the heat from the fire passes through the metal walls of the boiler into the water. The easier it is for the heat to travel into the water, the more efficient and less expensive the operation of your unit will be. Also, when the optimum adjustment of air to fuel ratio of each burner is achieved, it will allow you to save both energy and money.

As the burner operates, our technicians measure combustion efficiency in percent to determine the best possible air-to-fuel adjustment. If not enough air is present, carbon monoxide, a poisonous gas, may be produced. If the air is adjusted too great, then the heat itself can be blown out of the boiler before it has a chance to get into the water. Smoke is also produced during combustion and smoke produces soot. One-eighth inch of soot buildup on the metal fireside walls of the boiler is equal to a 10 percent increase in fuel consumption! Our technicians recognize that a indication of soot buildup means a increase in stack temperature.

Our technicians will clean the soot from the boiler walls and adjust the burner as part of the yearly maintenance agreement to ensure optimum boiler efficiency and fuel savings, in consideration of your boiler's age and manufacturer.

The boiler has a relief valve and low water cut-offs that provide an additional level of safety in the event problems occur with the water side of the boiler. Both the relief and low water cut-offs require maintenance to ensure that they will operate at the optimum level.

New England Mechanical Services offers maintenance programs that will provide fuel consumption savings, including:
- yearly cleaning and electronic combustion efficiency test and adjustment
- mid-season combustion retest and adjustment

Tips on Buying and Having a Hot Water Boiler Installed

1. Don't use a contractor who wants to size solely on the square foot method or amount of baseboard or radiation in your home. These units were more then likely oversized when installed due to the common sizing practices then. Would you buy clothing or carpeting without know what size you needed. Today most homes have been upgraded with new windows, doors and/or insulation. The proper way of sizing a new hot water boiler is called a Heat Loss Calculation. This is the proper and most accurate to determine the size of the hot water boiler to achieve the most comfort and lowest operational costs. When buying a hot water boiler bigger is not better because Fuel oil and gas boilers do not start at their peak efficiency. If the hot water boiler is oversized it may never run long enough to reach peak efficiency, which will only escalate your fuel bills! Oversized boilers will have larger maintenace bills and a shorter life do to short cycling. This is a condition of many cycles on and off instead of longer more efficient cycles. The numerous starting of the unit will shorten motor and control life and increase electric bills because it takes 2-3 times more electric to start a unit the to run a unit.
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2. Don't be tempted by the lowest bidder. Ask the contractor for references from satisfied customers. Be willing to pay for the time and material to have the hot water boiler installed properly. Don't have the job sized properly and get a poor installation.

3. Check the manufacturers AFUE ratings (This stands for Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency. This rating is used for gas and oil hot water boilers and warm air furnaces. This is a figure lower then the combustion efficiency due to taking into account the chimney losses and jacket losses) . The higher the rating the more efficient the boiler will be. When making comparisons make sure you are comparing AFUE to AFUE and not AFUE to Burner efficiency or Combustion Efficiency.

4. After you have Comfort-Calc do your Heat Loss Calculation ust these figures to determine which boiler size you need. After choosing a manufacturer look at their NET BTU ratings. (The net Btu rating is the actual btu's that can be put into the heating medium. This is after all losses are factored in including piping losses. ) Caution do not use the Input Ratings, this will make the unit to small. If the NET BTU is between two boiler sizes go to the up to the next size. Never go down to the lower size. Example: You require 90,000 Btu's. the manufacturer offers a unit with a net rating of 77,000 and 105,000. You would use the 105,000

5. You may want to consider an indirect water heater for (An indirect water heater takes boiler water to a tank to make domestic hot water. The indirect water heaters are far better insulated then standard water heaters. Most of them are listed as somewhere around 1/2 degree per hour standby loss. The life expectancy is greater due to not having the great stress of the flame temperatures of a direct fired gas or oil water heater. One of the greatest savings is not being hooked to a chimney which has a natural draft which is siphoning heat 24 hours a day from the water heater. Most manufacturers offer better warranties on indirect water heaters then on direct fired water heaters. )
domestic hot water instead of a domestic coil or direct fired water heater. This will give a more efficient operation and the boiler will be a cold start or on demand unit and save more fuel.

6. Have your circulators (pumps) moved to the supply (water leaving boiler) side rather then the return (water coming back) side of the boiler. If piped properly this will remove the air better, extend the life of the boiler, save fuel and reduce nuisance service calls to remove air in your heating system.

7. Make sure the water feeding into the boiler is being feed in the supply side between the expansion tank and supply piping. This will keep the water pressure from going to high due to pressure differences when the circulator comes on.

8. If the hot water boiler is oil fired make sure the burner is combustion tested for the highest efficiency. This is done by testing the combustion flue gasses and fine tuning the oil burner. Make sure all the safety's are tested.

9. If the hot water boiler is gas fired make sure the gas pressures are tested and adjusted. Make sure all the safety's are tested.

10. Make sure the thermostat anticipator is set to coincide with the control requirements for a more accurate thermostat operation and avoid temperature override. This figure will be in the manufacturers manuals or can be tested with a meter to determine actual settings.

Tips on Buying and Having a Hot Water Boiler Installed

1. Don't use a contractor who wants to size solely on the square foot method or amount of baseboard or radiation in your home. These units were more then likely oversized when installed due to the common sizing practices then. Would you buy clothing or carpeting without know what size you needed. Today most homes have been upgraded with new windows, doors and/or insulation. The proper way of sizing a new hot water boiler is called a Heat Loss Calculation. This is the proper and most accurate to determine the size of the hot water boiler to achieve the most comfort and lowest operational costs. When buying a hot water boiler bigger is not better because Fuel oil and gas boilers do not start at their peak efficiency. If the hot water boiler is oversized it may never run long enough to reach peak efficiency, which will only escalate your fuel bills! Oversized boilers will have larger maintenace bills and a shorter life do to short cycling. This is a condition of many cycles on and off instead of longer more efficient cycles. The numerous starting of the unit will shorten motor and control life and increase electric bills because it takes 2-3 times more electric to start a unit the to run a unit.
.
2. Don't be tempted by the lowest bidder. Ask the contractor for references from satisfied customers. Be willing to pay for the time and material to have the hot water boiler installed properly. Don't have the job sized properly and get a poor installation.

3. Check the manufacturers AFUE ratings (This stands for Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency. This rating is used for gas and oil hot water boilers and warm air furnaces. This is a figure lower then the combustion efficiency due to taking into account the chimney losses and jacket losses) . The higher the rating the more efficient the boiler will be. When making comparisons make sure you are comparing AFUE to AFUE and not AFUE to Burner efficiency or Combustion Efficiency.

4. After you have Comfort-Calc do your Heat Loss Calculation ust these figures to determine which boiler size you need. After choosing a manufacturer look at their NET BTU ratings. (The net Btu rating is the actual btu's that can be put into the heating medium. This is after all losses are factored in including piping losses. ) Caution do not use the Input Ratings, this will make the unit to small. If the NET BTU is between two boiler sizes go to the up to the next size. Never go down to the lower size. Example: You require 90,000 Btu's. the manufacturer offers a unit with a net rating of 77,000 and 105,000. You would use the 105,000

5. You may want to consider an indirect water heater for (An indirect water heater takes boiler water to a tank to make domestic hot water. The indirect water heaters are far better insulated then standard water heaters. Most of them are listed as somewhere around 1/2 degree per hour standby loss. The life expectancy is greater due to not having the great stress of the flame temperatures of a direct fired gas or oil water heater. One of the greatest savings is not being hooked to a chimney which has a natural draft which is siphoning heat 24 hours a day from the water heater. Most manufacturers offer better warranties on indirect water heaters then on direct fired water heaters. )
domestic hot water instead of a domestic coil or direct fired water heater. This will give a more efficient operation and the boiler will be a cold start or on demand unit and save more fuel.

6. Have your circulators (pumps) moved to the supply (water leaving boiler) side rather then the return (water coming back) side of the boiler. If piped properly this will remove the air better, extend the life of the boiler, save fuel and reduce nuisance service calls to remove air in your heating system.

7. Make sure the water feeding into the boiler is being feed in the supply side between the expansion tank and supply piping. This will keep the water pressure from going to high due to pressure differences when the circulator comes on.

8. If the hot water boiler is oil fired make sure the burner is combustion tested for the highest efficiency. This is done by testing the combustion flue gasses and fine tuning the oil burner. Make sure all the safety's are tested.

9. If the hot water boiler is gas fired make sure the gas pressures are tested and adjusted. Make sure all the safety's are tested.

10. Make sure the thermostat anticipator is set to coincide with the control requirements for a more accurate thermostat operation and avoid temperature override. This figure will be in the manufacturers manuals or can be tested with a meter to determine actual settings.