Boilers, radiators and radiant floors in Ottawa

A wall-hung condensing boiler converts 90 to 95 percent of the gas it burns into heat and hangs in the space a cast-iron boiler used for its flue alone. It modulates its flame to match what the radiators are asking for, and with outdoor reset it sends cooler water on mild days and hotter water on cold ones, which is where most of the savings come from in a long Ottawa heating season. The boiler is sized to the radiation in the house, not to the old unit, because the old unit was almost certainly too big. Ask which makes are carried when you call; the older cast-iron boilers still heating half of the Glebe are repaired as well.

We install and repair in-floor radiant loops with their manifolds and zone valves, cast-iron and panel radiators, towel warmers, and combination boilers that provide both heating and domestic hot water from one appliance, which can retire a separate water heater. Hydronic work is only finished once every zone is purged, bled and balanced so the far radiator heats as well as the first one; a system that gurgles or leaves one room cold has not been finished.

A radiator house loses heat faster than you would think once the boiler stops, and the radiators and pipes along outside walls are the first thing at risk. Lockouts, failed pumps, stuck zone valves, low pressure from a slow leak and a tripped low-water cutoff are the usual culprits, and most are repaired the same day. Call as soon as the radiators go cold rather than waiting to see if it comes back.

Boilers want the same autumn attention as furnaces: burner and heat exchanger cleaned, combustion analysis, expansion tank pressure and relief valve checked, pumps and zone valves exercised, system pressure and water quality confirmed, and condensate trap cleared on a condensing unit. A boiler that is serviced every year outlasts one that is not by a wide margin. It can be done in the same visit as a furnace tune-up for homes that have both.