This boiler add-on boosts efficiency—and saves you money

The heat of the summer will be here at any moment. This might not seem like the ideal time to talk about your heating system. But, since you’re not using it, now is a great time to make a change that will help you save money for many heating seasons to come.

If you heat your home using a hot water boiler, there is an easy way to improve the efficiency of your heating system and save money without having to replace the boiler itself – with a boiler outdoor reset control.

To help you understand how a boiler outdoor reset control can help you lower your heating bills, let’s first talk about how a hot water boiler operates.

Traditionally, boilers are designed to heat water to peak temperatures, anywhere from 160-200 ºF. This compensates for your home’s possible heat loss on the coldest days of the year. Living in New England, we certainly have our fair share of those frigid cold winter days and we are thankful our boilers can keep up and keep us cozy.

But what about the occasional mild winter day or those fall and spring days where you still turn on the heat, but you don’t need as much? Despite warm temperatures outside, your boiler doesn't adjust, so it's still heating water to peak temperatures whether you need it or not. On those days you may notice your home feels uncomfortably warm. On top of that, you’re using energy you don’t need, which can be costly.

Enter the boiler outdoor reset control which, with the help of a plumber or HVAC technician, can be added on to your existing boiler. It automatically adjusts the temperature of the water heated by the boiler based on the outdoor temperature – you don’t need to do anything yourself. So on those mild days, the water won’t be as warm as what’s required on those bone-chilling days.

With boiler water temperatures variable, you can improve the comfort of your home and improve the lifespan of your heating equipment, reduce standby energy losses, and lower your heating bills by an average of 10 percent. And that’s all achievable with a relatively small add-on to your existing system and little effort on your part aside from calling a licensed professional for the installation.