Nate wrote:
Hi-
We just moved into our new 1940 era house. There is inadequate hot
water for our needs. We live in the northeast and have an oil fired
furnace with a steam heating system, radiators. The furnace is a
Peerless, circa 1977. Running through this boiler is a tankless coil
for 'instant' hot water. Everything works fine except the tankless coil
doesn't produce hot water fast enough to give a bath to my kids.

So here are my options, as I see them. . . I don't mind paying more up
front if it means fuel savings down the road.

1. Irving (my oil supplier) wants to put in a 40 gallon indirect hot
water heater that would essentially be a new zone from my furnace . .
$2000, installed.

2. My local plumber also suggested putting in an indirect heated 40
gallon hot water tank but suggested we use the existing coil running
thorough the boiler to heat the water. ... $1300 installed.

3. My friend, who is a plumber who lives in another state who I saw at
a conference this weekend suggested a sperate oil fired hot water
heater . . cost ????.

4. I was considering putting in a regular gas fired (like from home
depot) hot water heater myself. (we have a city natural gas line). And
I was also considering running the water through the coil in the boiler
to preheat it in the winter when the boiler's running anyway (not sure
if that would save money or not).

Any advice greatly appreciated. Many thanks. -Nate Greene


I lived in an 1850s house with an oil fired steam heating system
and a water heating coil in the boiler for seventeen years.
During the heating season the domestic hot water got TOO hot
because it was inside boiling water. During the rest of the year
the aquastat which heated the boiler feed water to heat the
domestic water maintained a sensible temperature.

Questions: Is the coil clogged? Is there some crud inside the
coil which is reducing the rate of heat transfer so it does not
heat water fast enough? Is the aquastat [which controls the
boiler feed water temperature when the thermostat is not telling
the oil burner to make steam to heat the house] set at the proper
temperature?