Boiler Failure - getting the run around

12 Replies

We have a boiler that failed this week (a crack) and needs to be replaced ASAP. Last week the gas company lad a leak on my street due to a valve failure and system over pressure. My guess is that gas company issue caused the crack but the gas company is taking weeks to investigate. The insurance company is saying they aren't going to pay to replace it and will have an official response in a few days.  I'm having an engineer come look at it to see what caused the crack. With this big ticket item ($10K), what should I be doing right now to make the best of this situation?

@Malia B.

Hmm...unless you have a home warranty on your house, sounds like this will just have to be replaced. Some of the boiler companies have financing available though so you may not make a full $10,000 purchase all at once.

Temporary electric heaters could be a short term option in the interim until you get the new heater installed.

Depending on your situation, this may be also a good time to consider changing out the type of heat you have. With an oil to gas conversion for example, some gas companies will give you a rebate on a new heater.

A cracked boiler tank is almost always a sign that it froze or ran out of water. Even if it was winterized, it may have been done too late or they didn't drain the boiler. I had one crack in the Poconos after a deep freeze when it wasn't drained. I doubt the gas co had anything to do with it as they merely supply the fuel source to the burner. If the burner quit, maybe but the boiler tank only holds the water.

Also where is the crack? gas valve ? burners ? or is it leaking water ? a increase in gas pressure would not cause a crack in the boiler, extremely high pressure yes, however that's why their is an expansion tank and a pressure relief vavle

Is it a steam or a hot water baseboard system ?

How many units does this support?

I just had a commercial unit put in for 12K for a 5 unit building

Single unit size ones cost about 5-7K in MA.

Thanks everyone. it is a hot water type that uses gas for a 5br SF installed in 2003. The house has been occupied continuously since the boiler was installed. We are getting quotes now.

There was a small crack/hole on the piping that's between the casted metal sections near the flame.

Gas is regulated from your meter through a gas regulator. If there was some leak in the main or valve upstream of your home, the regulator attached to your meter would have prevented it from entering or surging the gas lines in your home. If the gas regulator itself failed, then your system could have got overpressurized but I have never heard of that happening. I also think that if that did happen, you wouldn’t have a boiler at all anymore, it would have exploded. This is likely a common wear and tear issue related to the boiler’s service life.

I will shop around calling to find a replacement boiler and have it ordered before your upset tenants..... How old is the boiler? You do routine maintenance on it? 

update - we had a new boiler installed and the residence are happy again. we were lucky to have some folks we worked with in the past give us a deal on it! we also cleaned the chimney and got new fireplace screens for them to have something while the boiler was in the works. gas company is long gone from responding. still waiting on final words from insurance co.

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