central boiler 6048

[spencerhenry]

i have found a 2006 central boiler 6048 used for sale. the guy wants $6000 for it. i dont know much about outdoor boilers so i thought i would ask here. i want to heat my shop which is 2000 sqft lower level, 1000 sqft upstairs that i may want to heat later, i also have about 800 sqft of exterior slab with snowmelt, and i also want to heat my house with it. my house is 2400 sqft two levels, lower level about half below grade. my gas boiler in the house is 130,000 btu, the shop has a 150,000 btu boiler that i was given. i want to put a wood boiler between the house and the shop and run both off of it.
is the 6048 big enough to run both buildings? is it a good unit? is $6000 a good price?

 

[Storm56]

I believe the 6048 is the newer version of what I have, which is a 5648. In order to give a reasonably accurate answer to your question, what are your insulation factors?

 

[spencerhenry]

my shop is 2000 sqft. there is about 3000ft of 1/2" wirsbo in the slab, the slab is 4" minimum. the ceiling is r-30, but above that the roof is also insulated with 3" of isocyanurite foam. the walls are r-19 above grade, below grade is a 6" stem wall with 2' each side eps foam. about half of the building is 5' or more below grade. there are 2 10x12 insulated overhead doors, 2 insulated man doors, and 5 high quality low 'e' windows, 4'x4' ceiling is 12'. it is all sheetrocked, painted, and trimmed nicer than my house. right now the gas boiler is set a 50, and it hardly ever runs. the house is now 13 years old, r-19 walls, r-30 rigid ceiling, but the house has 26 windows, and the upstairs has ceilings averaging 12' with the peak at over 16'.
typically my gas bill for the house runs about $120 to $160 per month depending on weather, and how much i am home to run the wood stove.
my guess is that the central boiler 6048 would run both, if not i always have gas backup.

 

[mimilkman1]

I think the 6048 would heat both just fine. The price sounds pretty fair, as long as the stove is in good condition. I bought my 5036 for $5500 three years ago. Back then the 6048's were around $7k or so.

 

[Storm56]

Before you make the final purchase you should consult a Central Boiler dealer and provide him all of these specs, but based on what you listed I think you should be able to accomplish your goals. Here is what I heat with my stove:


2200 sq ft home (R24 walls and R44 ceiling), 900 sq ft attached garage (R24 walls and R30 ceiling), domestic hot water, 3 person spa, 4400 sq ft pole building (R19 walls and R44 ceiling). The pole building has 14 ft walls with 3 12x12 roll up doors, 1 12x20 roll up door, and 1 10x10 roll up door. I also have a 14x44 finished room (R19 in outside walls, R13 on the inside wall and ceiling) in the pole building that I heat to 70 degrees all the time. The rest of the building I usually keep at 50 degrees. I have no trouble heating all of this even when it goes below 0, although at those temps the wood usage goes up quite a bit. I have not priced stoves since I purchased mine 5 years ago, but based on what I paid for mine back then and taking inflation into account it seems reasonable. I am unsure of what it would take to heat the driveway so I will not comment on that.

 

[blackdogon57]

I heat 2800 sq foot house, with 1800 sq foot basement apt (separate zone), poorly insulated double garage 65 degrees Separate zone, 1200 sq foot kennel building 66 degrees ( 2 zones), two DHW tanks. 6048 does it easily.

If I were you I would price new just to check.

Curious as to why the guy is selling.

 

[November Wolf]

My new 6048 last year was about $8500. Thats not including the Logstor tubing, heat exchanger and other misc things I had to get. Total price was about $12000.

 

[John D]

I think the 6048 would do the trick for you,its a good sized unit,but you better plan on cutting a lot of wood,between both buildings your going to need quite a bit of wood,and plan on 2x a day minimum fillings,and real cold days you may need to go out and add some a 3rd time or move stuff around.....
I think i would buy new a used 4 yr old unit, at 6K is no bargain when it has no warranty,new ones have 25 yr warranty,prices are down this yr,along with demand,ive seen prices drop about 1000 since last season.Ive seen them for high 7000s for sale brand new.

 

[rackmup]

Just bought a new one myself, you may want to check around before you pay$6000 for a 4 year old unit. They are running around $7800 after rebate right now and probably a little less in the next couple months.

Another thing to consider, Central Boiler does not transfer warranty.

Another question would be why is he selling...

Just depends on how important the warranty is to you.

Have a Merry Christmas...