Heating Services In Clinton, Ma. Installations, Replacements, and Repairs
The Heating Business...
Richard T. Curley Plumbing & Heating has kept Clinton MA homes warm since 1980. We repair and replace boilers — gas and propane systems, steam and forced hot water, plus oil-fired system controls — and we service radiators, baseboard, and circulator pumps.
Clinton is a mill town, and its heating was never designed home-by-home. The mills built the rows of worker housing, the boilers came later, and for a century the result was a living museum of converted systems — coal-to-gas, coal-to-oil, gravity hot water that's been circulating since the turn of the last century, and steam radiators still hissing in the old brick rows. That's the stock we work on every day. We know it.
We do not push new equipment when a repair will do the job. If your boiler can be fixed, we fix it. If it's time for a replacement, we'll give you a straight answer — no pressure, no scare tactics, no upsell.
Here at Richard T. Curley Plumbing and Heating, we are committed to same-day heating service for every Clinton resident. A cold tenement on a January morning isn’t something you wait on.
Boiler Repair and Replacement...
Boiler Repair… A boiler that’s making noise, short-cycling, or leaving radiators lukewarm needs attention before it fails completely. We troubleshoot and repair gas and propane boilers — steam and forced hot water — plus high-efficiency condensing units across Clinton. For oil-fired systems, we service the controls, circulators, and zones — everything on the hydronic side up to the burner itself.
Clinton’s stock is old, and a lot of it wasn’t built for the boilers now sitting in it. When the mills closed, existing homes were retrofitted in a hurry — boilers shoehorned into basements with no original flue, radiators placed where the pipes happened to reach. That means Clinton boilers run on systems that were patched together over decades. We read those systems. Common repairs we handle: failed circulator pumps, faulty zone valves, air-bound radiators, expansion tank failures, thermocouple replacements, and pressure switch issues. Most repairs take one visit. We carry circulator pumps, zone valves, and common control parts on the truck so you’re not waiting on a second trip.
Boiler Replacement…
When repair isn’t the smart money, we guide you toward the right replacement. An old gravity hot water system converted from coal can run another fifty years with the right boiler behind it — but the boiler itself has to be sized to the home’s actual heat loss, not swapped in like-for-like on a guess.
We size the boiler to your home’s real heat loss — not what was there before. Oversized boilers short-cycle and waste fuel. Undersized ones can’t keep up when the temperature drops and stays there. Getting it right matters, and we get it right.
- Weil-McLain
- Burnham
- Utica
- Buderus
Radiant Heat...
Radiant floor heat… is the most comfortable way to heat a home, and Clinton renovations are adding it in kitchens, bathrooms, and finished basements. We service and repair existing radiant systems — cold spots in the floor, a zone that won’t heat, or a manifold that’s leaking. If you’re planning to add radiant in a remodel, we can talk through whether it makes sense and what it takes to do it right.
Radiant runs at lower water temperatures than baseboard or steam, so boiler setup and control strategy are different. We dial in the outdoor reset and mixing to keep the floor warm without wasting fuel.
BOILER CONTROLS...
- Installation
- Replacement
- Repair
- Honeywell Thermostats
- Honeywell Controls
- White Rogers Controls
- Resideo Controls
- McDonnell & Miller
- Watts Regulator
- Just a few brands.
Baseboard and Radiator Systems...
Baseboard Heat… Clinton homes with hot water baseboard know the sound of creaking copper as the heat comes up. When that sound stops — or when one room stays cold while the rest of the house is warm — something is wrong.
We bleed air from baseboard loops, replace stuck zone valves, and flush sediment from older systems. If a baseboard section is damaged or leaking, we replace it. We also add baseboard to finished basements and additions.
Radiators… Clinton’s old brick rows and triple-deckers still have cast-iron radiators that can run a century if maintained — and a good number of them have already done it. We repair steam and hot water radiators, replace failing air vents on steam systems, and fix leaking radiator valves. A cold radiator in an otherwise warm house is almost always a simple fix — a stuck vent or a trapped air pocket.
In the old multi-story rows, the upper floors often run cooler than the ground floor not because anything is broken but because the system was never balanced after its last conversion. We tune the vents and valves so every floor gets its share.
- Slant/Fin Baseboard
- Suntemp Baseboard
- Weil-McLain Cast Iron Baseboard
- Sunrad Cast Iron Radiator
- Installation
- Replacement
- Repair
Circulator Pumps and Zone Valves...
The circulator pump… is the heart of a hot water heating system. When it fails, nothing moves. Common signs: the boiler fires but the pipes stay cold, or you hear the pump humming louder than it should.
Zone valves… control which part of the house gets heat. A stuck zone valve means one thermostat calls for heat and nothing happens — or worse, a zone that won’t shut off.
Clinton’s converted stock runs on systems that were never designed for modern pumps and valves. Old gravity setups get pumps added, multi-family buildings get zoned long after they were built, and the result is a tangle that a single stuck valve can throw into chaos. We find the failing part and fix it, same-day.
We replace Taco, Grundfos, Bell & Gossett, and Honeywell circulators and zone valves. Most are on the truck.
Expansion Tanks… Every hot water heating system has an expansion tank, and most Clinton homeowners never think about it until it fails. A waterlogged expansion tank causes the pressure relief valve to drip — that drip is your early warning.
We test expansion tanks, repressurize bladder-type tanks when possible, and replace them when they’ve failed. A five-minute inspection once a year prevents a waterlogged tank from shortening the boiler’s life.
- Taco Circulator Pumps
- Taco Zone Valves
- Grundfos Circulator Pumps
- Bell & Gossett Circulator Pumps
- Extrol Expansion Tanks
- Installation
- Replacement
- Repair
Heating across the MetroWest…
Richard T. Curley Plumbing & Heating handles heating in Clinton and the towns around it. If you’re in a neighboring town,
here’s where to go:
Call (978) 562-3736 for service in Clinton or any of these towns.
Common Heating Questions in Clinton
Yes, on the hydronic side. We service the controls, circulators, zones, expansion tanks, and radiators on oil-fired systems — everything up to the burner itself. We don’t tune or clean oil burners, so if that’s the specific job you need, that’s outside our scope. But if the issue is the controls or the hot water side, we can help.
Usually, yes. A gravity hot water system converted from coal can run another several decades if it’s been maintained — the pipes and radiators were built to outlast us. The question is usually the boiler behind it, not the system itself. We’ll tell you plainly whether the old boiler is worth keeping or whether a modern condensing boiler makes sense behind your existing radiators.
In Clinton’s older multi-story rows and converted homes, the upper floors usually run cooler because the system was never balanced after its last conversion from the original coal setup. It’s often a stuck air vent on a steam system or an undersized loop on hot water. We balance the vents, valves, and circulators so every floor heats evenly.
Listen to it. A healthy circulator hums quietly. A failing one whines, rattles, or runs hot to the touch. If the boiler fires and the pump runs but the pipes stay cold, the impeller may be seized or the coupler broken. We replace it same-day — Taco and Grundfos pumps are always on the truck.
That’s usually mineral scale built up in the heat exchanger, trapping water against the hot metal so it boils too fast. It’s common in older systems that have run for decades. A descaling flush usually quiets it. Left alone, it stresses the boiler and cuts efficiency.
Need a new water heater too? Our water heater service in Clinton handles gas, electric, and power-vent installation and repair.
If your heating call turns up a leaky bathroom or a sink in trouble, our bathroom plumbing in Clinton covers faucets, drains, toilets, and shower valves.
For a kitchen faucet, disposal, or drain issue, our kitchen plumbing in Clinton has you covered.
For everything we do in Clinton — heating, water heaters, bathrooms, kitchens, drains, and more — see our full Clinton plumbing services page.