Which fuels do Clay homes use, and why does a boiler quote name yours?

Census estimates for the Town of Clay: gas from the utility 68.6 percent, electric 24.6 percent, oil, kerosene or bottled gas 4.4 percent. Tell the Clay contractor what your boiler burns now, and ask for the vent and fuel line to appear on their own lines.

Can I switch away from a boiler?

Maybe. Ask for the cost of keeping radiators and the cost of changing, on the same page.

What should the boiler quote include?

The worksheet, the radiator check, the chimney plan and the permit line.

Boiler in Clay

Boiler Replacement in Clay: What a Buyer Should Ask

Claim $100 off your first jobAsk your questions first. Book only if the quote holds up. (315) 640-3590 Tap to call

Once your Clay boiler job is booked through us, $100 off your first job is credited.

No Clay count of boiler homes exists, so ask any bidder how many boilers they have replaced. Learn what to ask before you accept the first one.

White wall-hung boiler with copper pipes and a circulator pump on a basement wall below old iron mains

Local facts

Clay houses at a glance

At a glance

Kind: Town
House age group: Median home built 1970 or later

With 3.2 percent of Clay homes built by 1939 and no local boiler count, ask any bidder how many boilers they replace.

Gas water heater in a block basement beside a brick chimney with a vent pipe rising into it

The worksheet

Compare boiler quotes before you pick

Ask on every quote	Quote A	Quote B	Quote C
1A load worksheet for your house	Quote A answer	Quote B answer	Quote C answer
2How the new unit will vent	Quote A answer	Quote B answer	Quote C answer
3What happens to the water heater	Quote A answer	Quote B answer	Quote C answer
4Duct or pipe changes, listed one by one	Quote A answer	Quote B answer	Quote C answer
5Who pulls the permit	Quote A answer	Quote B answer	Quote C answer
6What is removed and hauled away	Quote A answer	Quote B answer	Quote C answer
7A start date and a payment schedule	Quote A answer	Quote B answer	Quote C answer

We tell you what to ask before anyone prices a new system, then introduce a local contractor who does the work.

Start your worksheet

Tell us about the house and the system. You get the three questions, and a local contractor only if you say yes.

Credit: $100 off your first job

The $100 comes off once your installation is booked through us.

We fund the $100; the contractor's quote is unchanged.
One credit per customer at each property.
Book the job by December 31, 2026.
Mention the credit when you book.

Ask about the $100 credit How the credit works

Start-up sheet terms

Spec FAQ

Short answers on boiler here

You ask	Short answer
Which fuels do Clay homes use, and why does a boiler quote name yours?	Census estimates for the Town of Clay: gas from the utility 68.6 percent, electric 24.6 percent, oil, kerosene or bottled gas 4.4 percent. Tell the Clay contractor what your boiler burns now, and ask for the vent and fuel line to appear on their own lines.
Can I switch away from a boiler?	Maybe. Ask for the cost of keeping radiators and the cost of changing, on the same page.
What should the boiler quote include?	The worksheet, the radiator check, the chimney plan and the permit line.

This fits when

Clay situations that call for new boiler

A pre-1940 Clay house with radiators Only 3.2 percent of Clay homes date from 1939 or earlier. In one of those, the radiators matter.
You are about to buy an older house in Clay Ask the seller for the boiler's age and service history. Then ask a contractor what a replacement involves.
The boiler burns oil or bottled gas About 4 percent of Clay homes burn oil, kerosene or bottled gas. If gas runs down your street, price a gas option too.
The boiler and water heater share a chimney Ask how the new boiler vents and what happens to the water heater.

How common a boiler is in this town

Clay is mostly gas-heated houses built around 1978, and no local count of boiler homes exists. The regional figure runs higher, where over a quarter of homes in the Middle Atlantic division rely on steam or hot water. Clay's own count is unknown.

Ask any bidder how many boilers they replace in a year, and which parts of the county they cover. A short, specific answer is worth more than a brochure.

Tell us the house and the system.

Ask about it

If your house has a boiler, a Clay contractor who has replaced a few will know the common surprises: old valves that will not close, radiators that were never balanced, a flue shared with the water heater. Ask each bidder to name two surprises they have met, and what they did.

Basis: American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates, table 2020 Residential Energy Consumption Survey, table HC 6.7, US

Gloved hand pulling a yellow tape measure along a painted window frame

The older house you may be about to buy

If you are buying a pre-1940 house in Clay, the boiler may be the oldest thing in it. In that same regional survey, roughly three main heating systems in ten are at least 20 years old. Ask the seller for the boiler's age, then ask a contractor to price its replacement before you close.

Ask the quote to price the boiler, the flue work and the piping on separate lines, so you can negotiate on real items. A single lump total leaves you nothing to bargain with.

Tell us the house and the system.

Ask about it

Do the walk-through yourself first. Note whether the radiators are cast iron, whether any rooms have baseboard instead, and whether you can see pipe in the basement ceiling. Photograph the boiler nameplate and the flue where it enters the chimney. Those photos give every bidder the same starting facts, and make the bids easier to compare.

Size, flue and the Department of Codes

A boiler answers to the same load rule as a furnace, and its chimney may need resizing when it is replaced. Ask for both in writing.

The Department of Codes publishes no list of permit work. Ask the office about your address and ask your contractor who applies.

Ask for the boiler sizing in plain numbers. The bid should show the heat the house loses on a design winter night and the heat output of the boiler it proposes. If the second number is far above the first, ask why, and what the extra capacity does to cycling.

Tell us the house and the system.

Ask about it

Ask for the old boiler to be described in the quote, with its approximate age and fuel. The description is a check that the bidder looked at your basement and not at a catalog.