How to Choose the Best Boiler for Your Home: Part One

Picking the right boiler for your home is an important task. Whether you are moving into a new home and you need to select a boiler as part of the construction process, or you are replacing an old boiler in an existing home, there are a few things you will need to keep in mind. In this two-part article, we are going to offer up some simple tips to make the shopping process as simple and straightforward as possible.

Do You Need a New One?

Before you even get into the process of looking for a new boiler, you should first make sure that you actually need to by one. You will, of course, if you are building a new home, but it might not be necessary to purchase an entire unit when the old one could just be repaired. If your current boiler has stopped working, it is worthwhile to call in a repair professional to diagnose the problem. If the fix is going to be affordable, you’re probably better off going that route. After all, buying a new boiler is a significant investment. However, if it doesn’t make sense to go forward with the repairs, or if you just want to buy a new one to enjoy performance and efficiency benefits, it will be time to shop.

Start with Size

When you do decide to purchase a new residential boiler, the first point you will want to consider is size. While it might seem like you should just buy one that is more than big enough for the space in question, that really isn’t the case. With this purchase, you want to get it just right. You will be wasting energy if you buy a unit that is too large, which is bad for both the environment and your bank account. Of course, if the boiler you select is too small, it will struggle to heat your home properly. No one wants to suffer through a long, cold winter with a boiler that can’t warm up all corners of the house.

To make sure you are picking the right sized residential boiler, you will want to pay attention to BTUs. The complicating factor here is the climate you live in, which will determine how much power you need. For instance, a home located in a warm climate would be nicely served by a boiler with 20 BTUs per square foot, while a home in a cold climate should look for around 50 BTUs per square foot. Knowing the size of your home and thinking about your local climate will go a long way toward helping you pick out the right model.

So far, we have seen that you should have your current boiler looked at before you decide to buy a new one, and also that size is a critical part of the shopping process. In part two of this article, we will move on to cover other key boiler shopping tips!