I have a 40 year old gas-fired boiler. It's pretty much a metal can
with no insulation around it. As a result a lot of heat escapes and
overheats the room it's in.

I realize that insulating it probably wouldn't make it more efficient
but what I'm interested in is keeping the room with the boiler a
little cooler.

Is there a way to insulate it? I asked at Home Depot-- the Building
Materials folks said to check in Plumbing, that a water heater blanket
might work. The Plumbing guys said no, a boiler gets too hot (the
water's 160 or so degrees but I don't know how hot the boiler itself
gets) and you can't use a water heater blanket on that.

Any ideas?

On Dec 22, 10:06*pm, Shaun Eli
wrote:
I have a 40 year old gas-fired boiler. *It's pretty much a metal can
with no insulation around it. *As a result a lot of heat escapes and
overheats the room it's in.

I realize that insulating it probably wouldn't make it more efficient
but what I'm interested in is keeping the room with the boiler a
little cooler.

Is there a way to insulate it? *I asked at Home Depot-- the Building
Materials folks said to check in Plumbing, that a water heater blanket
might work. *The Plumbing guys said no, a boiler gets too hot (the
water's 160 or so degrees but I don't know how hot the boiler itself
gets) and you can't use a water heater blanket on that.

Any ideas?

Are pipes insulated, a boiler shouldnt give off alot of heat.

"Shaun Eli" wrote in message
...
I have a 40 year old gas-fired boiler. It's pretty much a metal can
with no insulation around it. As a result a lot of heat escapes and
overheats the room it's in.

I realize that insulating it probably wouldn't make it more efficient
but what I'm interested in is keeping the room with the boiler a
little cooler.

Is there a way to insulate it? I asked at Home Depot-- the Building
Materials folks said to check in Plumbing, that a water heater blanket
might work. The Plumbing guys said no, a boiler gets too hot (the
water's 160 or so degrees but I don't know how hot the boiler itself
gets) and you can't use a water heater blanket on that.

Any ideas?



Short story, no, there is not a lot you can do. Wrapping the outer shell in
fiberglass is only marginal. Keep in mind, that insulation on the boiler is
going to keep the heat in it, but it is also going to keep the area near the
boiler cooler. In an unused basement that may be OK, but if you want heat
there, it is not "wasted" if it comes from the boiler.

At 40 years old, it is very inefficient and wasteful. Consider an upgrade.
I've posted the information twice inthe past couple of days about new
boilers, low or no interest loans and the potential payback. Here in CT we
can get 10 years at 0% plus, a $500 rebate. At $3 a gallon oil, the savings
pay the payment. YMMV

I was told that I can't use fiberglass on the unit.

I understand it's not wasted heat because it's going into the house
but it's next to a wine cellar kept at 57 degrees and the way the
basement is laid out even though most of the basement is colder than
that, the cooling unit kicks on from time to time when it shouldn't be
necessary. I'll probably have to add insulation to the wine cellar
but that's a lot more work.

As far as efficiency, when I bought the house the utility measured the
efficiency and said it wasn't cost-effective to replace it. I figured
that at $3000 for a new boiler (just a guess) the cost of natural gas
would have to climb a lot (and it's low this winter) in order to
justify it.

I am not sure why you couldn'tuse fiber glass insulation (although I do not
know about those water heater blankets because I don't know what they are
made of). I have steam heat on a house I just bought and I am about to buy
insualtion for the pipes in the basement. Steam heat actually gets to a
little above boiling, so the pipes will be 212-216 degrees, and the pipe
insulation is fiberglass.

But maybe there are issues regarding the boile ritseld and exposure to any
flame heat source -- I don't know.

Once place I am sure you can get an answer is at http://heatinghelp.com .
Go there and click on the "Questions" tab on the home page and post your
question there.

Good luck.

Shaun Eli wrote:
I have a 40 year old gas-fired boiler. It's pretty much a metal can
with no insulation around it. As a result a lot of heat escapes and
overheats the room it's in.

I realize that insulating it probably wouldn't make it more efficient
but what I'm interested in is keeping the room with the boiler a
little cooler.

Is there a way to insulate it? I asked at Home Depot-- the Building
Materials folks said to check in Plumbing, that a water heater blanket
might work. The Plumbing guys said no, a boiler gets too hot (the
water's 160 or so degrees but I don't know how hot the boiler itself
gets) and you can't use a water heater blanket on that.

Any ideas?

Sorry about all of the typos in my prior message. My figures aren't working
today.

I don't know why the link I posted didn't work, but here it is again:

http://heatinghelp.com/


RonABC wrote:
I am not sure why you couldn'tuse fiber glass insulation (although I
do not know about those water heater blankets because I don't know
what they are made of). I have steam heat on a house I just bought
and I am about to buy insualtion for the pipes in the basement. Steam heat
actually gets to a little above boiling, so the pipes will
be 212-216 degrees, and the pipe insulation is fiberglass.

But maybe there are issues regarding the boile ritseld and exposure
to any flame heat source -- I don't know.

Once place I am sure you can get an answer is at
http://heatinghelp.com . Go there and click on the "Questions" tab on
the home page and post your question there.

Good luck.

Shaun Eli wrote:
I have a 40 year old gas-fired boiler. It's pretty much a metal can
with no insulation around it. As a result a lot of heat escapes and
overheats the room it's in.

I realize that insulating it probably wouldn't make it more efficient
but what I'm interested in is keeping the room with the boiler a
little cooler.

Is there a way to insulate it? I asked at Home Depot-- the Building
Materials folks said to check in Plumbing, that a water heater
blanket might work. The Plumbing guys said no, a boiler gets too
hot (the water's 160 or so degrees but I don't know how hot the
boiler itself gets) and you can't use a water heater blanket on that.

Any ideas?

"Shaun Eli" wrote in message
...
I was told that I can't use fiberglass on the unit.


Bull****. My booilers at work for high pressure steam operate at 335
degrees and have fiberglass insulation, as do the steam pipes.


As far as efficiency, when I bought the house the utility measured the
efficiency and said it wasn't cost-effective to replace it. I figured
that at $3000 for a new boiler (just a guess) the cost of natural gas
would have to climb a lot (and it's low this winter) in order to
justify it.

Gas is cheaper than oil but you may want to run the numbers again with new
costs and see just how much you can save. Oh, it will not be $3000 either,
closer to double that or more for a high efficiency model. .

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...

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.

"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.

My current boiler is more than 70% efficient so it's not possible to
save a third of my energy costs.

Plus, the payback period you calculated ignores the cost of money. I
can get at least 3% interest now in a bank and that will eventually
rise. And I may sell the house in a few years...

If it breaks I'll replace it. With any luck not on a 1 degree day
(the coldest it's gotten here, by the way, in the last decade is 3
degrees). I own three 1500 watt space heaters.

Of course a new one can break on a 1 degree day too. My parents'
house has the original boiler. From 1948.

But thanks-- I have sent an email to an insulation company to ask
about using fiberglass to insulate the boiler.

On Dec 24, 5:03*pm, Shaun Eli wrote:
My current boiler is more than 70% efficient so it's not possible to
save a third of my energy costs.

Plus, the payback period you calculated ignores the cost of money. *I
can get at least 3% interest now in a bank and that will eventually
rise. *And I may sell the house in a few years...

If it breaks I'll replace it. *With any luck not on a 1 degree day
(the coldest it's gotten here, by the way, in the last decade is 3
degrees). *I own three 1500 watt space heaters.

Of *course a new one can break on a 1 degree day too. *My parents'
house has the original boiler. *From 1948.

But thanks-- I have sent an email to an insulation company to ask
about using fiberglass to insulate the boiler.

How did you calculate 70%, there are a few 95-96 and one 98% at under
140f. Your boiler is I bet 80% efficent, but the amount of water it
holds, pilot, lack of exhaust damper, old burners reduce efficency. A
condensing boiler could be 15-30% better if you can stay warm with
under 140f water.

Con Ed tested my boiler when I moved in and they said it was seventy
something percent efficient and that it wasn't economically
justifiable to replace it. I don't remember the exact number but I
think it was toward the high seventies...

It has a pilot. I don't know what an exhaust damper is, but if it's
something that closes the vent when the boiler's not running that's
tough because it shares the exhaust pipe with the water heater, and
anyway I don't really care how cold the basement gets.

I can't imagine how a boiler could be 98% efficient-- that'd mean that
only 2% of the heat is escaping through the exhaust...

In any case the boiler works and my gas bills aren't that high
(especially now that energy is cheap again).

"Shaun Eli" wrote in message
...
. . . . But I think the better solution is to
better insulate the room I want to keep colder, even if it is more
work.

You could probably do both -- insulate the room and insulate the boiler.
You said you want to keep the heat from the wine cellar area, and you asked
if there is any way to insulate the boiler. But, you seem to be locked in
to what one person told you about not using fiberglass to insulate the
boiler itself. If it were me, I would check out other sources to find out
if that advice is correct -- I doubt that it is.

And, while I agree that there may be no point and no real need to replace
the existing boiler with a new more efficient unit, I think the cost that
people are suggesting may be less than they think. I had a gas
boiler/heater replaced for under $3,000 and that was without shopping around
for price. Most are 85%-90% efficient these days. There are higher
efficiency units (about 95%, I think) and they cost about $1,000 more. But
some installers say the higher efficiency units have more complex
electronics etc. and are more prone to having problems and may not be worth
the added expense and maintenance issues.

Good luck.

"Shaun Eli" wrote in message
I can't imagine how a boiler could be 98% efficient-- that'd mean that
only 2% of the heat is escaping through the exhaust...


Exactly. Instead of a chimney, you can use a 2" PVC pipe. Look up
"condensing boiler"