Maintenance people are often asked, now that spring is here and the heating season is drawing to a close, can we shut down our furnace for the summer? With fuel at over $4 per gallon, it might seem like a good idea to shut down your boiler and save some money.
There are differing opinions about shutting your heating plant, but you can indeed save money by shutting down your system over the summer. With a residential boiler, you might save $150 by not keeping the boiler warm over the next three months.
It all depends on your type of system. You can’t shut down a tankless coil, because you need it for heating your domestic hot water. But if you have a cold start boiler that’s used for heating only, then go ahead and have it shut down. The boiler should be cleaned, because soot plus moisture in the boiler will lead to a hard deposit that will be very difficult and time-consuming to clean in the fall, when you want to start the boiler up again. And since your boiler should be cleaned and inspected each year, by doing it in the spring you can save money over the summer, and be ready to just flip a switch for heat in the fall, avoiding a time of year when it can take days for a service call because maintenance techs are so busy.
The cleaning is really an important part, and if you’re not able to get your boiler cleaned, don’t bother shutting it down. Over the summer, mechanical rooms become a moist environment and things corrode, oil tanks left partially filled will bring in moisture, spider webs block off air adjustments, cold boilers could allow gaskets to leak, and cold boiler surfaces may condense warm summer air and allow rusting.
Turning your thermostat down, leaving the heating system operational, and scheduling maintenance for the fall is can help save money if you can’t schedule a spring cleaning/shut down. If you’re using your heating system to generate your domestic hot water, then regular conservation measures (lowering the water temperature, installing low flow shower heads, and limiting shower times) will save energy and money.
In general, shutting down a heating plant means draining, cleaning, and drying. It isn’t the shutting down that is important, it is starting them up again. If you don’t have the boiler properly cleaned in the spring, it will require a service call to get your heating plant operational again, often made at the time when many heating systems are undergoing maintenance and technicians are in high demand.
In short: shut it down right, and you’ll save money over the summer and time in the fall. Consult with your furnace maintenace company for more information.