"Shaun Eli" wrote in message
...
I probably don't spend much more than a thousand or fifteen hundred a
year to heat the house so paying six thousand dollars to save a
fraction of that would have too long a payback period, even if I stay
here forever...

If you save a third of $1500 a year is is $500 or 12 year payback. What you
have to consider at some point, is what do I buy if my boiler is broken and
unrepairable. Since you have to pay a good sum already, the cost to be
conerned about is the differential between a plain boiler and a more
efficient one. Just something to think about beofre you are in a situation
when it is 1 degree outside and the heter is broken.



Pipes may be 216 degrees F but the boiler itself, with a big flame
inside, could conceivably get hotter. I can always lay an oven
thermometer probe on it to see. But I think the better solution is to
better insulate the room I want to keep colder, even if it is more
work.

The burner itself is hot, but the exterior of the boiler will not exceed the
water temperature.