New Boiler
Now that PG&E has announced a huge rage increase, I'm thinking of replacing our original but still functioning boiler. Has anyone any experience on this? Did it make a significant difference in monthly bills?
There has been a number of postings on boilers . . . am not sure what the definition opinions are, but postings should be coming in.
I think that the efficiency of the an "old" boiler vs. a "new" doesn't justify a new one if the current one is working . . . I haven't checked, but I thought a new boiler w/ installation is $3K to $5K.
Basically, in my experience, I'm losing a lot of heat through large amount of uninsulated glass, drafty (original) aluminum framed windows, and wide gaps in our front door (we have a foam roof). In my 2 years, I haven't opened up the outside walls so I don't know the insulation story, but it's probably below R-11/15. Also, my original boiler hear exchange is about 10% clogged (2 years ago per Anderson). Our tile floor (18" x 18") seems to only get toasty warm in spots, while our combined electric/gas bill was running $300+ for several winter months.
The reasoning is that Calif houses were built in decades of cheap energy costs, but the Eichler architecture makes retro-fitting expensive (I call them Eichler defects, others call them Eichler character).
Thus, keeping heating costs down in Eichlers require a multi-facet approach and a long payback (you seldom get your money back on re-sale for replacing items that are wear out).
