Boilers & Radiant Heating

Hot-water heating is common in older Vancouver houses, in many West Side and North Shore homes built with radiators or in-floor tubing, and in newer custom builds and laneway homes that use radiant floors. The heat is even and quiet, and the boiler is the heart of it. Replacements are driven by age, leaks, rising gas use and the move to high-efficiency condensing or combination boilers that also make domestic hot water.

A boiler job is more than the appliance. A good quote covers the new boiler, venting (condensing boilers vent through plastic pipe and need a condensate drain), the circulator pumps, expansion tank and controls, and a check that the existing radiators or tubing and the water chemistry are in good enough shape to connect to a modern boiler. Converting an old gravity or high-temperature system to a condensing boiler works best when the contractor looks at outdoor-reset controls and the radiator sizes, not just the boiler rating.

Gas boilers need a gas permit, issued by the City of Vancouver, Richmond, Burnaby, Maple Ridge or the North Vancouvers inside those municipalities and by Technical Safety BC elsewhere, and the work must be done by a licensed gas contractor. Replacing a gas boiler like for like is still allowed in the City of Vancouver. Air-to-water heat pumps can feed some radiant systems and are worth asking about, especially for in-floor heat that runs at low water temperatures.