Summer Heat

 



The new boiler

There's something a little disheartening about installing a new furnace in the middle of July, especially on an unseasonably chilly morning when winter doesn't seem impossibly far away.

The old gravity feed boiler -- in the house when Bob moved in 50 years ago -- made me feel a little uneasy, especially when we were away for a month in the winter. In the winter months, our Xcel Energy bills reminded me that the furnace was inefficient and used more gas than our neighbors, even though we keep the house fairly cool. It was time.

The guys from Boehm, an old St. Paul company, arrived early this morning and soon the old furnace and pipes were dumped in a junker's truck, along with scraps left over from last week's window job. The job was done by mid-afternoon and the mysteries of the new device were unveiled to Bob and me in the basement at the end of the day.

84% efficiency

The energy efficiency rating of 84% refers to the boiler's ability to squeeze heat from each therm of gas. That meant absolutely nothing to me without comparing it to the non-existent rating of the previous boiler.

One of the installers estimated that rating to be between 50% and 55%, so a rough calculation suggests that the new furnace is at least 53% "more efficient" than the old, a number I hope to see reflected in gas usage once October ushers in the heating season. However, I suspect the guy picked that number out of nowhere so the impact of a more efficient boiler will be a surprise.

Last week, a few naysayers unhesitatingly told us we should simply have kept the old furnace, since it would have gone one forever and the new one will need replacement in a decade or so. I felt a wave of doubt until I saw the completed conversion and realized we can forget about winter heat until the leaves begin to turn.