Fall visit
One boiler check before the first cold night.
- Boiler cleaned and safety controls tested
- Radiators bled, or steam vents tested
- Written note of what we found
- Midwinter check
- Priority booking for no-heat calls
- Term:
- Billed once a year.
Steam, hot-water and radiant heat in Hartford
Old houses stay warm when somebody tends the boiler
We look after the boilers, cast-iron radiators and radiant floors of Hartford's older homes. Three generations of one family, one phone number, and a written note after every visit.
- Licensed in Connecticut
- Steam, hot water and radiant
- A written note after every visit
Heating season calendar
What an old heating system needs, and when
Put each of these in your phone. We do the first two; you can do most of the rest yourself, or call us.
- September
Step 1: Boiler check before the first cold night
We clean the burner, test the safety controls and look at the flue. On a steam boiler we also check the water in the gauge glass and flush the low-water cutoff.
- October
Step 2: Bleed the radiators, test the steam vents
On hot water, air collects at the top of a radiator and leaves it cold. We bleed each one, or show you how with the little key. On steam, we test every vent so no room heats late.
- November
Step 3: Wrap the pipes in the cold corners
Pipes in an outside wall, a crawl space or an unheated porch freeze first. We insulate them, and shut and drain the outdoor hose faucets.
- January
Step 4: Freeze watch
When the forecast drops, open the cabinet doors under sinks on outside walls and keep the thermostat steady, even if you are away. Know where your main water shutoff is.
- March
Step 5: Thaw check
A pipe that froze can split and only leak once it warms. After the first mild week, look in the basement and under the sinks for damp, and tell us about any spots.
- May
Step 6: Shut the system down properly
A steam boiler is drained of sludge and refilled. On hot water, we check the pressure and the expansion tank before the long off season.
Steam heat
Steam is simple, and it is picky
A steam boiler boils water, and the steam climbs the pipes to fill the radiators. When it works you hear almost nothing.
When it does not, you get banging pipes, one radiator that never gets hot, or a boiler that shuts itself off. Most of that traces back to a vent, a pitch or the water level, not to a boiler that has to go.
Vents and pitch
Air has to leave each radiator and water has to run back to the boiler. A stuck vent or a sagging pipe breaks both.
Water level
The gauge glass tells you more than anything else on the boiler. We teach you to read it.
What we work on
Four kinds of heat, and the plumbing under them
Steam systems
One-pipe and two-pipe: vents, valves, pipe pitch, gauge glass, low-water cutoffs and the boiler itself.
Hot-water radiators
Cast-iron radiators and baseboard: bleeding, zoning, circulator pumps, expansion tanks and valves.
Radiant floors
Loops and manifolds under floors, with mixing valves, pumps and a drawing of where every loop runs.
Boilers and hot water
Boiler replacement sized to the house, indirect water heaters, and the supply and drain plumbing that goes with them.
Yearly service plan
One plan for the boiler's whole season
Pick how much of the heating season you want us to watch. Each plan says what it includes and what it does not.
Season plan
Most chosenA fall visit and a midwinter check, with a place at the front of the line.
- Everything in the fall visit
- Midwinter check of pressure, vents and pipes
- Priority booking for no-heat calls
- No trip charge on repair calls
- Hot-water side of the house
- Term:
- Billed once a year.
Whole-house plan
The season plan, plus the hot-water side and a spring shutdown.
- Everything in the season plan
- Indirect water heater, circulator and expansion tank checked
- Spring shutdown visit
- Repairs and parts
- Term:
- Billed once a year.
Not insurance: repairs, parts and labor beyond the visits listed are billed at our posted rates. Cancel before your renewal date by phone or email and the plan does not renew.
Specials
Coupons for the heating season
When we run a coupon for a boiler check or a radiator, it appears here. Mention it when you book.
Your coupon here The end date and terms go on the coupon. 
Your second coupon here The end date and terms go on the coupon.
Sample offers.
Coupons cannot be combined.
From people who kept their radiators
“Our one-pipe steam banged every morning. Lincoln found two vents that had stopped working and a radiator that sat tilted the wrong way. He fixed those, wrote it down and told us the boiler could stay.”
Zsuzsa T.Homeowner, Asylum Hill
“I rent out the second floor, so a cold radiator is a phone call at eight at night. Sherene texts the arrival window, and the same crew came back in October to bleed every radiator in the house.”
Rocco B.Two-family owner, Wethersfield
“We put radiant loops under the kitchen floor of a 1920s house. Rui showed us the manifold and a drawing of every loop before the new floor went down.”
Petros A.Homeowner, West Hartford
Sample reviews.
Where we go
Hartford and the towns around it
Mostly houses built before the war: triple-deckers, brick two-families and wood-frame Victorians. If your town is not listed, call before you assume.
Hartford County
- Hartford
- West Hartford
- East Hartford
- Wethersfield
- Plainville
- Rocky Hill
- Canton
- Windsor Locks
- Glastonbury
- Simsbury
- South Windsor
- Farmington
- Southington
- New Britain
- Berlin
Middlesex County
- Cromwell
We do not work on the shoreline, in New London County or across the line in Massachusetts. If you are outside this list, ask anyway: we may know a firm near you.
ZIP codes: 06101, 06102, 06103, 06105, 06106, 06112, 06114, 06120, 06107, 06110, 06117, 06119, 06108, 06118, 06109, 06033, 06067, 06070, 06062, 06489, 06096, 06019
What people ask before they call
Should I replace my steam boiler with a hot-water one?
Not as a first move. Most steam trouble comes from vents, pipe pitch or the water level, and those are repairs. We look first and write down what we found. If a boiler really is finished, we say why before we quote.
Why does one radiator never get hot?
On steam, it is usually a vent that has stopped letting air out, or a valve left half shut. On hot water, it is usually air at the top of the radiator. Both are quick to check.
What does a boiler check include?
We clean the burner, test the safety controls and look at the flue. On steam we also check the gauge glass and the low-water cutoff. You get a written note of what we found and what we did.
Do you work on radiant floors?
Yes. We service the manifold, the mixing valve and the pump, and we install new loops in renovations. We do not pour or tile; we work with whoever does.
What does a visit cost?
The visit fee and the hourly rate are told to you on the phone before we come. For anything bigger you get a written estimate that says what it includes and what it does not. Nothing starts until you say yes.
Do you come at night?
In heating season we answer no-heat calls every day until 8 p.m. After that the phone goes to a message that we hear at 6:30 the next morning. If you smell gas or a carbon monoxide alarm sounds, leave the house and call 911 and your gas utility first.
Not urgent?
Tell us what the radiators are doing
A form suits a cold room, a noisy pipe or a job that can wait.
Phone(860) 555-0100
Hours
- Monday – FridayToday
- 7:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
- SaturdayToday
- 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
- Heating-season no-heat calls
- Daily, 7:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.