Boiler Installation and Replacement in Edgewood, NM

When is it time for boiler replacement instead of repair?

A boiler with a cracked section or a leaking heat exchanger is usually done. So is a boiler whose parts are no longer made, or one that leaves you cold several times a winter. A unit that cannot vent safely, or cannot be set up for our elevation, should be replaced. When a repair still makes sense, we say so first.

Boilers are among the calls a winter storm brings in here. In February 2011, gas utilities cut service to more than 30,000 New Mexico customers, in areas including Bernalillo and Placitas. Relighting had to be done by hand, one customer at a time. A boiler that is already failing is better replaced in the fall than in a cold snap like that.

Sizing a new boiler for the house and the altitude

A new boiler should match the heat your house loses on a cold night. We work that out from the rooms, the insulation, the windows and the zones. An oversized boiler can turn on and off too often, which wastes fuel and wears out parts. A room the old system never reached may do better with a ductless mini split.

Altitude changes the numbers too. Edgewood sits near 6,700 feet. Gas appliances are rated for elevation, and each maker publishes the adjustment for its boilers. Some need a high altitude kit or a control setting, and we follow the maker's instructions for your elevation.

Natural gas or propane, the gas line has to carry what the new boiler burns. A combination boiler can need much more gas than the boiler it replaces. We check the line size, make the gas connection and pressure test the piping. A new or bigger run is part of our gas line installation work.

How a boiler installation goes, from venting to first fire

A standard boiler usually vents up the old chimney or a metal flue. A condensing boiler usually vents in plastic pipe, out a side wall or the roof. It pulls so much heat from the exhaust that water condenses out, and that acidic condensate needs a drain. If a water heater shares the old chimney, we check its venting once the boiler leaves.

Next the boiler gets piped in: the expansion tank, the circulator pumps and the zone valves or manifolds. Radiant floor loops and baseboard runs tie into the new unit. The new piping gets a pressure test before the boiler fires. New Mexico's mechanical code sets that test at 1.5 times the operating pressure or more, with water or air.

Then we fill the system, purge the air from each zone and fire the boiler for the first time. We check that every zone heats and set the controls. The same state code says hydronic systems shall be balanced, so each loop gets its share of the heat.