Yearly Checkup for Gas Heat?

Some quick thoughts by a highly biased individual on boilers and the need for maintenance.
Feel free to click elsewhere if you’ve heard this, from me, before. I cut and pasted this from a question last year.

When dirt and dust build up on the burner tubes efficiency declines steadily. As a result of rising levels of unburned fuel after the combustion process has taken place, carbon monoxide begins to rise proportionately. So you clean them at least annually.

Low water cut off devices need to be cleaned and their wiring contacts inspected and tested.

Flu piping and chimneys need to be looked at by someone who knows how a problem presents itself.

Newer boilers need to be skimmed to get rid of the oil that lies on top of the water that prevents steam from reaching the pipes and radiators, to prevent burning fuel that doesn’t produce steam.

If you think you’ve been maintaining your boiler because every week or so you push down on that lever that lets out that dirty cruddy water, you’re wrong. You haven’t done much of anything for the boiler at all. That valve is there to maintain the low water cut off to which it is directly connected.
Fresh water corrodes a boiler. Every time you flush it out, you’re creating the need to add more fresh water. If that new water doesn’t boil right away, it does bad things to the cast iron and steel that contain it.
There are two basic types of low water cut off devices: float-type (you’ve got model # 67 in your home) and probe-type (yours is the probably the PS-800 series by McDonnel-Miller).
According to the manufacturer, the float type should be blown down (flushed) weekly. It is made to last for ten years. After that, get a new one.
The probe type should be disconnected from the boiler and cleaned and inspected annually. It is made to last fifteen years.
http://www.mcdonnellmiller.com/pdf/install_instr/MM-815C.pdf

Steam heating systems operate on the principle that steam pressure created in the boiler moves the gas (gas in this case is steam) to areas of low pressure throughout the building. Areas of low pressure are created by adding air vents in places like the ends of radiators and piping runs. It doesn’t take a lot of pressure to do this, just enough to be different from one end of the system to the other.
That being the case, having the boiler run long enough to make more pressure than is necessary is nothing but a senseless waste of fuel and money.
A trained boiler mechanic and technician knows how to set the pressure regulating device, found on every steam boiler, properly.

Having to add water to a steam boiler too often is NOT a reason to buy an automatic water feeder.
If your boiler is less than 400,000 btu (your boiler is probably less than 400,000 btu) and you’re adding water more than about every two weeks, you’ve got a problem that needs to be identified and repaired. Adding a water feeder in some cases is like putting a Band Aid on a gunshot wound.

Minor tangent:
As for water feeders, they have their place and their people.
I happen to be a fan of the Hydrolevel water feeder. There are countless benefits to their digital display (in number of gallons fed) and their flexibility made possible by their settable flow rate options (how much water per feed cycle) and its lockout feature which effectively prevents things like flooding a house while the family’s away.
http://www.hydrolevel.com/pages/products04b.html

John Cataneo, LMP
http://www.GatewayPlumbing.com

You don’t need an annual inspection.