Cost for new natural gas boiler

Not for me, but asking for an acquaintance.  She tends to get one quote and then panic so I’m trying to help her out.


The woman who purchased my Maplewood home has no heat and the plumber she called said the boiler (hot water baseboard) needed $8,000 in repairs.  That seems crazy to me, especially considering that the boiler is at least 40 years old, wouldn’t it make more sense to tell her to replace it instead of putting that much into repairing it?  Or would replacing it actually cost more?  I can’t understand spending that kind of money to repair something that old and most likely less efficient than newer units.

What is the average cost, including labor, to install a new natural gas boiler.  The space to be heated is less than 800 sq feet so it wouldn’t be a huge unit.


A boiler to heat an 800 sq. ft. space will wind up being about 30,000-35,000 BTUs input. That gives your friend lots of options like the Lochinvar Epic combination heat/hot water boiler that will work at a minimum 11,000 BTUs - maximum 110,000 BTUs, which saves lots of fuel on those days when we don't need our boiler's full capacity to heat the home. https://www.lochinvar.com/lit/404461EPC-02.pdf

$8,000 to fix an old boiler is ridiculous but also suspicious. What the heck costs that much on a boiler? 

Of course, my first question should've been to ask whether this was a steam heating system or hot water.

That makes a big difference. 


Hot water.  I don’t know what part of the boiler is broken, but in general I would think that putting that much money into a 40 year old boiler doesn’t make sense.  

Apparently the heat went out last year and when she got that quote she panicked and used space heaters, and her problems were compounded when her neighbor’s house caught fire and her house sustained damage.  She’s had a crappy year to say the least.  She’s been putting it off because of the price but now winter is coming and she doesn’t know what to do.

I’ve been trying to convince her to get a second quote, or a second opinion on how to proceed (repair vs replace) but after receiving the first quote she just became overwhelmed and shut down.  Her daughter tries to help and manages some of her affairs for her, but she lives in Alaska so it isn’t easy for her



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