Boiler is OFF but WARM !?

I have an old Dunkirk boiler which drives the hot-water baseboards in my house.  The other day my CO alarm went off so out of an abundance of caution, I called FDNY and they came with their meters and found nothing – all ZEROs even in the boiler closet so they suggested perhaps the alarm was malfunctioning which can happen. When they left, I continued investigating in the boiler closet and realized the boiler is WARM (not hot) to the touch yet the red emergency cutoff switch is OFF for the summer.  Now I can’t seem to find the pilot light and I’m sure that would generate a little heat but the whole body of the boiler?  Really? What is going on here!?  (I do have a call out to some pros but the storm cleanup seems to be higher priority…) Thanks in advance.

widthom

in Boiler Repair 13 years and 9 months ago

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Arkady | 13 years and 9 months ago

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When I had an energy audit done last spring an engineer found 6 CO leaks in my basement.  I had my plumber try to fix the leaks but his meter didn’t detect any CO on all but one of the joints before he did the fixes so we couldn’t tell if the repairs were good.  I had to have the original engineer come back twice to be certain all the leaks were repaired.  You have to have a really sensitive meter to get a reading on teeny leaks.  (The engineer was Warren Lowther 646 765 9459)

Master Plvmber | 13 years and 9 months ago

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One of the advantages to having a continuous pilot light in a cast iron boiler is (or was, as they’re disappearing) that they keep the boiler warm and therefore free of condensation. I’ve never known the FDNY, with all due respect, to find a carbon monoxide source. It’s often *very* difficult to find where CO comes from and it’s *very* easy to blame a faulty alarm. Don’t fall for that.