What Hurricane Sandy could mean for your heat and hot water systems
What Hurricane Sandy could mean for your heat and hot water systems Hurricane Sandy has devastated many in our city and our prayers are with them all, from those who lost a loved one to those who simply lost power for a few days. Even worse adversity has faced our region before and we have risen above it, and so we shall again. In this, I have no doubt. As a professional in the heating business, I am acutely aware of the effect that Hurricane Sandy may have had on heating systems in flooded areas especially as the cold weather is already upon us. I hope to answer here a few questions that have been asked of me and I endeavor to be helpful to those who are most affected. By no means is what I write here law and applicable to all cases, but it is generally true based upon my experience in the field. **Furthermore, if I can be of any other help in answering questions, I offer myself free of charge.** If you are in dire need of heat and hot water for yourself, small children or elderly family, please seek shelter with friends, family or governmental agencies immediately. Your home’s heat and hot water issues will not be solved yesterday. Lastly, please call a licensed plumber or heating company for remediation of your systems. **Electrical Power-** Your boiler and hot water heater will not function without power. Even if you have gas, your equipment has controls, electric valves and safeties that need power to function. That power is either 110 Volt or 24 Volt and it can come from a generator properly fed through the correct circuit breaker at your panel. As you will read below, the effect of salt water on electrical components is bad. I would recommend hiring a licensed electrician to evaluate your electrical system and replace the circuit breakers in your panel(s). **If you have been flooded out-** **Safety relief valves should be changed no matter what.** Herein lies the sticky part because I tend to be conservative in my estimate of survivability. Others may disagree here but in the end it pays to remember that boilers and controls aren’t built to be submerged in salt water. For the most part the flood waters were salt water and that is bad. The first thing the salt water is going to do is corrode all the electrical components. Circuit boards, copper contacts on switches, terminals, they may look ok now but they are going to get worse quickly. They will turn green and become pitted causing the components to fail and become a real safety hazard. Fuel relays that hang up can cause unburned fuel to enter your boiler and build up until the burner does finally light…boom. Not good. Low water cut-off probes that corrode will not sense the true water level in your boiler and can allow it to dry fire…boom. Not good. As for the metal parts of the boiler and burner here’s what can happen. Burner tubes on gas burners can also corrode causing the orifices to plug up which will prevent the gas from coming out at the plugged location. This causes uneven firing and premature boiler failure at a minimum. Further back it can damage the gas valve and cause a nuisance that way. On oil burners, the nozzle will clog and foul, the fan motor is most likely shot, compressors and oil heaters will be shot too (on larger burners). Pilots will definitely be out and need to be dried or in most cases changed before restarting. If you are unsure of how to light the pilot or smell gas, call the gas company or a licensed plumber immediately. The cast iron sections of the boiler will fare the best of all the components but will begin to rust. Given how thin boiler sections have become due to manufacturers desire to try and gain efficiency, this is not a good thing. As it is your boiler has either already begun to rot from the inside due to excessive addition of fresh water during the heating season. Add to that oxidation from the outside and you will be looking at replacing you boiler anyway in the next year or so give its existing age. Lastly, the rope in between the cast iron sections may begin to rot if under water too long and left exposed. I would think at a minimum that the salt left in it after drying out would be harmful and cause it to fail prematurely. In some boilers failure of this rope is what causes leaks at the bottom. **In all cast iron sectional boilers, failure of this rope creates an extremely hazardous condition where carbon monoxide and other flue gasses are released into the boiler room.** Hot water heaters will be suffering much the same fate as boilers. These things aren’t built to last past 10 years as it is so if you are at least half way there, think about replacing it. Your electrical components are shot on it and the burner will suffer the same fate as described for boilers. The thermocouple will begin to give you trouble as soon as the corrosion and pitting begin. I hope that anyone reading this will take heart in the fact that New York City has an extraordinarily knowledgeable group of men and women in the plumbing and heating field. They are ready and able to evaluate your systems and offer you immediate solutions. I have been in touch with a number of heating equipment distributors who are prepared to quickly provide equipment. Your whole community is working together on this and the pros I have been in touch with make me proud to be a part. On behalf of my company and my family, our prayers are with you. Steve Fontas President Molten Mechanical & Metal Works, Ltd. heat@moltenmechanical.com
steam_man
in Heating 12 years and 7 months ago
9
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9 replies
clemuel | 12 years and 7 months ago
The largest boiler manufacturers (Burnham, Weil McLain) say that a flooded cast iron boiler should be cleaned and have its controls replaced. No need to change the cast iron sections according to these manufacturers. In fact, because of this, many insurers will not pay to replace boilers. However, to change controls, remove the jacket, properly clean the iron, remove and clean burner tubes, and clean everything else takes probably seven hours. The cost of new controls is probably about $400 without any markup. When all’s considered, replacement of anything but the newest boiler is probably the best bet economically. We’re Professional Engineers and New York City Master Plumbers. We advise our customers to replace their boilers if they are flooded. However, the boilers we own are cleaned and have their controls replaced.
eme1million | 12 years and 7 months ago
Very easy and convenient to say “start from scratch” when 1) you are a plumber, and 2) you have heat and hot water. I am not advocating for running unsafe boilers, but let’s remember that the cold is also unsafe, as is burning kerosine, wood, candles and leaving the oven on. All of which people right now have to do to stay safe. There are not enough decent shelters and there are not enough boilers, hot water tanks and plumbers to provide the kind of safety threshold we are all used for all of the people facing imminent winter. As for AGA’s concern for safety – aren’t they leading the effort to FRACK our clean water supply!
steam_man | 12 years and 7 months ago
Ditt f’n o MP
eme1million | 12 years and 7 months ago
interestingly, I got two opinions on whether my boiler can be repaired or needs to be scrapped – local plumber who came around Red Hook said without looking at it, that it needs to go and he would put me on a list. Friend of a friend who is a plumber in Massachusettes asked me the boiler make and model over the phone, and said I can get by with just changing out the control board which costs about $150. He said the insulation would dry out in time and quite quickly once it is fired up, and that short term immersion in salt water (about 24 hours in my case), might have damaged the gas valve but probably not. He said he has re-started many flooded boilers without incident. My flood insurance will pay for a new boiler but I need heat now, And I think that for many people it might not be possible or practical to replace every flooded boiler immediately – people are cold and need heat right now – not in a month. I expect a run on boilers (and plumbers) just like we are seeing with gasoline. I know most Brownstoners tend to be more affluent and think nothing of scrapping something if even possibly damaged, but most people are just not in that position.
steam_man | 12 years and 7 months ago
Starting from scratch sounds like the right plan in your case. Unfortunately right now we are backlogged as we are trying to help NYCHA get temporary boilers hooked up for their residents. Keep calling till you find a reputable **business** who can service you.
rh | 12 years and 7 months ago
Thanks for the information! So it sounds like the best thing to do is just start from scratch and get a new boiler. I have a house in Rockaway that was under water. There was a problem with the releif valve and there was a gas leak even before Sandy. I had a plumber come to check it out and he said filing permits would take about 4 weeks. Is this true? And now with the emergency situation, will DOB expedite the permits? Finally, is every plumber in the city now backed up for months or are you guys available??
steam_man | 12 years and 7 months ago
Yes it is possible. A reptable electrician would be able to do this. I think I might have even touched upon it in my letter.
DianaJ | 12 years and 7 months ago
Here’s a question you’re probably going to hear from people over the next few days: Is it possible to set up a gas boiler so that it can be (occasionally but easily) fired from a portable generator? Here in the East Village, our main issue with the blackout was no heat and no hot water. If we could have kept our boiler firing through the blackout, people could have stayed in the building. Is there any way to do that? Since we have also been thinking of replacing our boiler with a high-efficiency one, could an off-grid operation option be installed at start-up? All answers much appreciated. Thanks so much.
Master Plvmber | 12 years and 7 months ago
Great information, Steve. Thank you. Please add that jacket insulation found on all modern boilers and water heaters is totally ineffective once it gets wet. That means excessive heat made by the appliances will travel directly outside the jacket and will burn or melt all/any external safety and operating controls.