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Here we discuss range boilers used for making domestic hot water for washing and bathing. Thanks to Carson Dunlop, a Toronto Home Inspection Firm and Home Inspection Educator, for permission to use sketches shown in this article.

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© Copyright 2009 Daniel Friedman, All Rights Reserved. Information Accuracy & Bias Pledge is at below-left. Use links at the left of each page to navigate this document or to view other topics at this website. Green links show where you are in our document or website.

Below we describe some alternative ways to make hot water, either to replace or to supplement an existing hot water supply system. After knowing what the hot water problem really is, there are steps we can take to get more hot water or to increase hot water pressure.

How to Use a Range Boiler to Make Hot Water from a Heating Boiler

A range boiler is an older type of domestic hot water heater which uses a separate hot water tank which is connected to a heating boiler as well as to domestic hot water piping in the home.

How does a Range Boiler Work?

Water circulates from inside the range boiler tank through a heat-exchanger coil that may be inside the heating boiler or it may be external, such as a Side Arm Coil. Heat inside of the physically separate heating boiler warms water that circulates, usually by gravity (or convection) between the range boiler and the heating boiler.

Modern indirect-fired water heaters use the same principle as the range boiler but add heat controls and a circulator pump, as we discuss in detail at Indirect-fired Water Heaters.

In our photo at page top you can see the old galvanized steel range boiler in the far corner of the basement. A newer (but still quite old) gas fired water heater has been installed in front of our old range boiler.

Plumbing Connections for a Range Boiler

You'll find four pipes connected to a range boiler tank. Don't do what we did early in our HVAC career: some of those many connections on the range boiler seemed to have no purpose so we eliminated and capped off a pipe that seemed unnecessary. It was a mistake. All four pipes which we describe here are needed:

1. Cold water into the water tank, coming from the building water supply
   
   
2. Hot water leaving the water tank headed for plumbing fixtures
   
   
3. A gravity line from near the bottom of the range boiler heater which by gravity permits cooler, heavier water in the tank to flow into a loop of heating pipe or into a side-arm coil which heats the water.
   
   
4. Hotter water rises by convection or "gravity" and flows back to the range boiler water tank.

Range Boiler Safety

The range boiler tank should be protected by a pressure/temperature relief valve just as any pressurized tank. If none is installed your range boiler does not meet modern safety standards - it is unsafe, and a relief valve should be installed promptly.

See Relief Valves - Water Heaters for details.

The characteristics of various water heaters such as life expectancy, cost, safety, and capacity are discussed at WATER HEATER PROPERTIES

Ways to improve hot water quantity, pressure, and flow are discussed beginning at HOT WATER IMPROVEMENTS and continuing at HOT WATER QUANTITY IMPROVEMENT.

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PLUMBING TOPICS
WATER HEATERS
AGE of WATER HEATERS
ALTERNATIVE HOT WATER SOURCES
  Electric Shower Heaters
  High Efficiency Water Heaters
  Indirect-fired Water Heaters
  Instantaneous Water Heaters
  Multiple water heaters in parallel
  Multiple water heaters in series
  Range Boiler Water Heaters
  Side Arm Coil Water Heaters
  Solar Water Heaters
  Tankless Coil for Hot Water
  Tankless Water Heaters
ANODES & DIP TUBES on WATER HEATERS
ANTI SCALD VALVES
CARBON MONOXIDE/DIOXIDE
CHIMNEY INSPECTION DIAGNOSIS REPAIR
CLOGGED PIPING & Hot Water Flow
ELECTRIC WATER HEATERS
GAS FIRED WATER HEATERS
  DRAFT HOODS - gas fired
  Gas BTUH & Cubic Feet
  Gas Conversion LP Natural Gas
  GAS PIPING, VALVES, CONTROLS
  SOOT on OIL FIRED HEATING EQUIPMENT
SPILL SWITCHES - Flue Gas Detection
HOT WATER IMPROVEMENTS
HOT WATER DELIVERY SPEED UP
HOT WATER QUANTITY IMPROVEMENT
INDIRECT FIRED WATER HEATERS
NO HEAT - NO HOT WATER: HEATER DIAGNOSIS
ODORS IN WATER
OIL FIRED WATER HEATERS
MIXING VALVES
PLASTIC HEATER VENT
RANGE BOILERS
RELIEF VALVES - TP Valves on Boilers
Relief Valves - Water Heaters
SAFETY DURING HEATING INSPECTION
SEWER GAS ODORS
SEWER LINE REPLACEMENT
SOLAR HOT WATER HEATERS
SOOT on OIL FIRED HEATING EQUIPMENT
SPILL SWITCHES - Flue Gas Detection
TANKLESS COILS
Temperature Pressure Relief Valves - Water Heaters
Water Heater Noises
WATER HEATER PROPERTIES
  Electric, Gas, Oil Water Heater Efficiency
  Water Heater Life Expectancy Comparisons
  Water Heater Operating Cost Comparisons
  Water Heater Purchase & Maintenance Costs
  Water Heater Water Quantity Comparisons
  Water Heater Recovery Speed Comparisons
  Water Heater Safety Comparisons
Water Heater Scale - De-Liming Procedures
WATER SOFTENERS

• Thanks to Alan Carson and Bob Dunlop, Carson Dunlop, Associates, Toronto, for permission to use illustrations from their publication, The Illustrated Home which illustrates construction details and building components. Carson Dunlop provides home inspection education, publications, report writing materials, and home inspection services. Alan Carson is a past president of ASHI, the American Society of Home Inspectors.

More Information on Building Diagnostic Inspections and Repairs

• Carbon Dioxide Gas Toxicity
• Carbon Monoxide Gas Toxicity, exposure limits, poisoning symptoms, and inspecting buildings for CO hazards
• Dust from HVAC? An Investigation of Indoor Dust Debris Blamed on a Heating/Cooling System Reveals Carpet Dust
• Goodman Furnace High Temperature Plastic Vent HTPV safety recall US CPSC notice
• Home Heating System Should Be Checked [for proper venting and for CO Carbon Monoxide Hazards - DJF]
• Inspection Procedures for Oil-Fired Heating Systems Detailed step by step approaches for inspecting complex systems]
• Lennox Pulse Furnace Safety Inspection/Warranty Program: Carbon Monoxide Warning
• Oil Tanks - The Oil Storage Tank Information Website: Buried or Above Ground Oil Tank Inspection, Testing, Cleanup, Abandonment of Oil Tanks
• Oil Tanks Above Ground, UL Standards, guidance for home owners, buyers, and inspectors
• Plastic Heating Vent Pipe & Other Heating Safety Recall Notices
• Weil McLain Model GV Gas Boiler/gas valve CPSC recall/repair
• Domestic and Commercial Oil Burners, Charles H. Burkhardt, McGraw Hill Book Company, New York 3rd Ed 1969.
• National Fuel Gas Code (Z223.1) $16.00 and National Fuel Gas Code Handbook (Z223.2) $47.00 American Gas Association (A.G.A.), 1515 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA 22209 also available from National Fire Protection Association, Batterymarch Park, Quincy, MA 02269. Fundamentals of Gas Appliance Venting and Ventilation, 1985, American Gas Association Laboratories, Engineering Services Department. American Gas Association, 1515 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA 22209. Catalog #XHO585. Reprinted 1989.
• The Steam Book, 1984, Training and Education Department, Fluid Handling Division, ITT [probably out of print, possibly available from several home inspection supply companies] Fuel Oil and Oil Heat Magazine, October 1990, offers an update,
• Principles of Steam Heating, $13.25 includes postage. Fuel oil & Oil Heat Magazine, 389 Passaic Ave., Fairfield, NJ 07004.
• The Lost Art of Steam Heating, Dan Holohan, 516-579-3046 FAX
• Principles of Steam Heating, Dan Holohan, technical editor of Fuel Oil and Oil Heat magazine, 389 Passaic Ave., Fairfield, NJ 07004 ($12.+1.25 postage/handling).
• "Residential Steam Heating Systems", Instructional Technologies Institute, Inc., 145 "D" Grassy Plain St., Bethel, CT 06801 800/227-1663 [home inspection training material] 1987
• "Residential Hydronic (circulating hot water) Heating Systems", Instructional Technologies Institute, Inc., 145 "D" Grassy Plain St., Bethel, CT 06801 800/227-1663 [home inspection training material] 1987
• "Warm Air Heating Systems". Instructional Technologies Institute, Inc., 145 "D" Grassy Plain St., Bethel, CT 06801 800/227-1663 [home inspection training material] 1987
• Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning Volume I, Heating Fundamentals,
• Boilers, Boiler Conversions, James E. Brumbaugh, ISBN 0-672-23389-4 (v. 1) Volume II, Oil, Gas, and Coal Burners, Controls, Ducts, Piping, Valves, James E. Brumbaugh, ISBN 0-672-23390-7 (v. 2) Volume III, Radiant Heating, Water Heaters, Ventilation, Air Conditioning, Heat Pumps, Air Cleaners, James E. Brumbaugh, ISBN 0-672-23383-5 (v. 3) or ISBN 0-672-23380-0 (set) Special Sales Director, Macmillan Publishing Co., 866 Third Ave., New York, NY 10022. Macmillan Publishing Co., NY
• Installation Guide for Residential Hydronic Heating Systems
• Installation Guide #200, The Hydronics Institute, 35 Russo Place, Berkeley Heights, NJ 07922
• The ABC's of Retention Head Oil Burners, National Association of Oil Heat Service Managers, TM 115, National Old Timers' Association of the Energy Industry, PO Box 168, Mineola, NY 11501. (Excellent tips on spotting problems on oil-fired heating equipment. Booklet.)

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