Hi there!

I'm getting ready to do some renovations to our 1884 brick 2 story house (OK, the truth is, we're constantly under renovation!)

One of the things we need to do in this phase is move/replace the water heater. One of our options is to do a regular gas storage heater, but we do have a boiler, so I've been thinking about indirect storage tanks.

I'm pretty sure my dear old 1925 cast iron boiler can't handle a new coil and an indirect tank. Given it is 80+ yrs old, and was originally coal fired, now gas fired, we know it's not the most efficient boiler out there, so I'm planning to call for estimates on replacing it and adding the storage tank.

Problem: Boilers aren't all that common in this area. There are one or two contractors who do them, but that means the competition is pretty thin.

We LOVE our hot water heat. We even like the huge cast iron radiators. Ok, if I had a choice, I'd go with radiant floor tubing, but that's not a simple retrofit.

the facts:

Location: Omaha, Nebraska. Brrr!

2600 sqft, 10ft ceilings, cast iron radiators on 1st and 2nd floors. Some uneven heat, mainly in large (14x22) north facing 2nd story bedroom with small radiator (8 fins) originally 2 rooms, 2 radiators, (one was removed by previous home owner) is under heated, and good sized (15x15) South/West corner room (2nd floor) with huge (16-18 fin) radiator is often overheated.

Radiator is American Standard (actually, it says, "American Radiator and Standard Sanitary") originally coal fired/now gas fired cast iron 1250 gallons. Has huge pipes. Natural draft out a 8in flue to chimney about 6 ft away.

Basement is COMPLETELY underground, 14in thick masonry walls. No way to vent except via the chimney.

Ok, here's my question.

Can we get a boiler that's more energy efficient? If we do, will our basement go cold? Right now, it's heated on the lost heat from the boiler (and stays a toasty 80 degrees in the winter). If we'll lose the basement heat, how should we go about heating it? We're just now finishing half into a media room plus bathroom (other half will be mechanical/storage). There are tray-ed out crawlspaces all around the perimeter, because the basement was dug out after the house was built (probably in 1925 when they added the boiler). I do have pipes, both heating and water supplies, running in the crawlspaces (which I'm about to drywall the finished spaces and close off), and I want to be sure they stay warm enough not to worry about freezing in the Nebraska winters.

Replacing the boiler isn't a must. It sucks gas like a sailor guzzles beer after 6 months at sea, but it works. (Natural gas, with the boiler as the only gas appliance, runs $2600/yr (ouch!). It needs a minor repair right now, the circulating pump failed or a valve is frozen shut....we just cranked up the temp a little and it ran on gravity. (No I did not exceed safe pressures, it was about 150 degrees and the usual 10-15lbs.)

I mainly want to know what y'all think. Replace the scary old boiler? Add the hot water tank? Would a better one pay for itself in a reasonable amount of time? Or should we just let it ride, do our minor repairs and get a regular water heater?

Always ;-)

Hunzi