Electric Backup Boiler

Price wise it should actualy work out a little better. No vent or chimney to construct and keep clean. No nozles or filters to change. No cumbustion chamber to clean. No fuel to maintain.

In reality, an electric boiler is coal fired. The coal is just burned at a remote location and you don't have to do any of the cleaning or maintainance!

-Don

Actually it is terrific to have some first hand knowledge of trying an electric boiler. They are NOT an anomaly; they are in all heating catalogues, and simply another heating source. Electric water heaters are excellent domestic supply appliances, and why not a boiler or furnace? When you see them for sale on ebay or craigslist, you should consider checking them out. Just reading up on them is a good way to be intelligent when the discussion begins. My experience is that 'propain' domestic units seem to fail around 6 to 8 years out, and electrics last 10 to 15. A boiler would also need the anodes checked on a regular basis, depending upon your water chemistry. I have seen a dozen on walls when doing service work, so Scott is not alone by any means. The down side is that if you ran one year round you could easily purchase an entire TT load of 'Buck' for the same money, probably less. Hands free is worth something also, actually it's worth a great deal!

Either way, thanks Scott for sharing your experience and knowledge.

Ya ' Gotta Do What Makes Sense For You ! So Good to See Beautiful Work,Alot of Talent and Pride !! Hat's Off !!

Thanks guys!!!! I appreciate your support. Good to see there are people who see the point.

A neighborhood mini-nuke would be the ticket. No dust, no ash, no fuel storage issues......and a half-life of 25,000 years.......what's not to like?

Doug, you are on to something there. There are a lot of things going that way now. A while ago, when my business was strong and I was looking to invest, someone explained that to me. That the small neighborhood nuke was going to be the thing. I thought about it and was going to buy all the shares of plutonium I could get my hands on. Sit on it. After a long thinking session, I decided not to. The environmentalists were just never going to let it happen. One of the biggest mistakes ever. Last time I checked, five years ago, I would have made 12,000% profit. By now, it would be even more. The evironmentalists will for sure shut down the coal. But they won't get the nukes. It's because the fuel is the densest available. Bottom line, more power cheaper. China is.

I've got a nuke plant close enough that I have considered throwing some jumper cables over to it. For some reason you can't smell those burn'in atoms?

-Don

Scottscoaled wrote:Doug, you are on to something there. There are a lot of things going that way now. A while ago, when my business was strong and I was looking to invest, someone explained that to me. That the small neighborhood nuke was going to be the thing. I thought about it and was going to buy all the shares of plutonium I could get my hands on. Sit on it. After a long thinking session, I decided not to. The environmentalists were just never going to let it happen. One of the biggest mistakes ever. Last time I checked, five years ago, I would have made 12,000% profit. By now, it would be even more. The evironmentalists will for sure shut down the coal. But they won't get the nukes. It's because the fuel is the densest available. Bottom line, more power cheaper. China is.

I think the reason for the 12,000% proffit is because the rest of the world doesn't have any other choice. It's nuke or buy coal, oil and gas from another country.

-Don

How did I miss this thread?

I think it's a great idea! For full time it might run your checking account ragged, but as a back up I'm all for it. The only one concern mentioned is that the pump might not start if it sat unused for a year or three. The old cure was to thump it with a hammer. Technology steps forward! Get a Taco VR1816. They self check & have an automatic procedure to start themselves if they are stuck. I had heard this as a rumor, but just got off the phone with the Taco factory in RI. They assure me it's true. Only $219... *ouch!*, but might be worth it. It is also claimed to be one of, if not the, most efficient pumps. It's all kinds of fancy with multi speeds, variable speed & volume control. Welcome to the future!

i love it, I have a old oil boiler for back up and was considering a similar set up. seeing how compact this is, im pretty much sold. ive already converted some of my appliances from propane to electric, and to be honest I think its a bit cheaper around here atleast. great job!

Well just want to post an update on this electric boiler. It's The cat's meow! All things considered, it has turned out to be one of the better options I've exercised. It cost me less than $1000 to install. I have reliable back up heat. It really isn't that noticeably expensive. During the summer, it is an efficient source of domestic hot water. I've run it into shoulder season for several years now and the electric bills aren't that much. This last November, the coldest November in history, Cost me $300 to heat house and hot water. I haven't ran it in the coldest months. No need. I got a real fuel efficient, gentleman janitor boiler that sips coal. Working 7-12's every week with few days off has changed much. I still give a thumbs up for an electric back up. No brainer in my book.

I still have my 13.5 KW electric boiler waiting in the wings as a back-up. But I disagree that it should be considered economical. On the single February when I burned 75 lbs. of coal per day a few years ago (my record), my electric bill for that month (or rather the heating portion of it only) would have been ~$768 if I was running the resistance boiler. For coal the cost of heating that month was ~$262. A single month $506 savings.

Efficiency be damned....it’s the cost of the “fuel” that matters!!!

scalabro wrote: ↑

Sat. Jan. 26, 2019 10:36 am

Efficiency be damned....it’s the cost of the “fuel” that matters!!!

Anyone in the state of MA or CT need not read about electric boilers.

For me, an electric unit would only be slightly more expensive to operate than my oil boiler (unless fuel keeps going down)

I don't believe I ever said economical. What I did say, was that it was a good source of domestic hot water during the summer. Factoring in your standby losses using coal in the summertime, there really isn't that much difference. Of course there is a difference, but I'm just not that tight.