When my husband and I bought our house, we were told the boiler was almost fifty years old.
We knew boilers lasted a long time, but we figured at most, we would have ten years to save for the ductless mini split HVAC system we really wanted installed.
Since the boiler didn’t use ductwork, we didn’t need to worry about having the old ductwork removed from the house. It was a win-win situation. Here it is ten years later, and the boiler system is running well. I called the HVAC company for an assessment. The technician told us the boiler system looked like new. He could see it lasting another ten years or more. I was about in tears, and he looked at me oddly. I told him I wanted to get rid of the boiler and have a ductless HVAC system installed. I then got a bright idea. I wanted to know if they could give us a trade-in value on the boiler, and take the cost off the ductless HVAC system. He said he couldn’t make that decision, but since it was fifty years old, he didn’t see it happening. We could donate to a homeless group, and possibly give someone a heating system for free, but with it being so old, no one would want one. If the boiler was too old to give away for free, then why wasn’t it too old to continue working. I really wanted to get rid of the boiler and get a ductless HVAC system, but no one was listening to my pleas.