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Richard T. Curley
Richard T. Curley
Richard T. Curley
PLUMBING & HEATING
Heating problems... In Sudbury Ma Installations, Replacements, and Repairs
For the full scope of heating services across every Metrowest town we serve, see our heating system repair guide for Metrowest.
Common Heating Questions in Sudbury
It can. Sudbury well water carries minerals — iron, manganese, calcium — that settle in the boiler’s heat exchanger over time. The buildup acts like insulation where you don’t want it, reducing efficiency and creating hot spots that stress the metal. An annual service flush removes most of it. For homes with particularly hard well water, we can recommend a treatment setup that protects the boiler.
A slow leak somewhere in the system. In Sudbury's larger homes with long pipe runs, a pinhole leak in a baseboard loop or a weeping radiator valve can drop pressure gradually without leaving an obvious puddle — especially if the leak is on a second-floor loop where the water travels before it shows. We pressurize the system and trace the leak. Most are fixed in one visit.
It depends on how the boiler was sized originally and how much square footage you added. Older Sudbury capes often had oversized boilers to begin with, so a family room addition might be fine. If the boiler was sized tightly, the new space stretches it thin and you'll feel it on the coldest nights. We can run a heat loss calculation on the expanded footprint and tell you whether your current boiler can keep up.
If you're on a large Sudbury lot without natural gas, propane is the alternative. It burns cleaner than oil, the boiler costs less to maintain, and you're not tied to oil delivery schedules or fluctuating heating oil prices. We handle full conversions — remove the oil boiler and tank, run the propane line, install the new unit. If your oil tank is buried, we coordinate removal and soil testing.
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 sounds like air trapped in the lower baseboard loop. Hot water rises, so the upstairs radiators get flow while air blocks the downstairs loop. Bleeding the baseboard usually fixes it. If the air keeps returning, there’s a small leak admitting air somewhere in the system — often at a packing nut or an automatic air vent that’s failed open.
Need bathroom plumbing while we’re in the house? Our bathroom plumbing services in Sudbury cover toilets, sinks, tubs, and showers — well and town water both.
If your hot water is part of the heating problem, our water heater services in Sudbury handle gas, electric, and tankless units on well or town supply.
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The Heating Business...
Richard T. Curley Plumbing and Heating has kept Sudbury MA homes warm since 1980. We specialize in boiler repair, boiler replacement, radiant heat, baseboard systems, and circulator pump service. If your heat runs on hot water or steam, we handle it — whether your home pulls from a private well or the Sudbury Water District.
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 Sudbury resident. A cold house on a January morning isn’t something you wait on — not when the temperature drops and the well pump is already working overtime.
Boiler Repair and Replacement...
Boiler Repair… A boiler that’s making noise, short-cycling, or leaving baseboards lukewarm needs attention before it fails completely. We troubleshoot gas boilers, oil boilers, steam boilers, and high-efficiency condensing units across Sudbury.
Common repairs we handle: failed circulator pumps, faulty zone valves, expansion tank failures, air-bound radiators, thermocouple replacements, and pressure switch issues. Sudbury’s well water carries minerals that can settle in boiler heat exchangers over time, reducing efficiency and causing hot spots. On the municipal side, Sudbury Water District supply swings in hardness seasonally. Both water sources leave their mark — we check for it. 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. Sudbury homes range from antique colonials and capes on large wooded lots to newer construction with radiant floors to mid-century ranches with baseboard hot water. Each one calls for different equipment.
We size the boiler to your home’s actual heat loss — not a guess based on what was there before. Oversized boilers short-cycle and waste fuel. Undersized ones can’t keep up when the temperature drops below freezing 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 Sudbury’s newer builds and high-end renovations have embraced it — especially in master bathrooms, finished basements, and great room additions. We install radiant tubing, manifold systems, and mixing valves. We also repair existing radiant: cold spots in the floor, a zone that won’t heat, or a manifold that’s leaking.
Radiant systems run at lower water temperatures than baseboard, so boiler setup and control strategy are different. We dial in the outdoor reset and mixing to keep the floor warm without wasting fuel. On well-water homes, we also protect the closed loop from the kind of mineral intrusion that can foul a radiant manifold.
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… Sudbury 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 attic conversions — common in Sudbury where square footage grows as families do.
Radiators… Sudbury’s older colonials and antique capes have cast-iron radiators that can last a century if maintained. 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 Sudbury homes with long pipe runs from the boiler to the farthest bedroom, that cold radiator is sometimes the last stop on a loop that lost heat along the way. We balance the system so every room 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.
We replace Taco, Grundfos, Bell & Gossett, and Honeywell circulators and zone valves. Most are on the truck. In Sudbury homes with four or five zones — common when additions were built over decades — a single stuck zone valve can throw off the whole system’s balance. We find it and fix it.
Expansion Tanks… Every hot water heating system has an expansion tank, and most Sudbury homeowners never think about it until it fails. A waterlogged expansion tank causes the pressure relief valve to drip — and that dripping is the canary in the coal mine.
We test expansion tanks, repressurize bladder-type tanks when possible, and replace them when they’ve failed. In Sudbury homes where the boiler room is tucked into a corner of the basement behind years of storage, that expansion tank can go unnoticed until a drip on the floor finally catches someone’s eye. A five-minute inspection once a year prevents a waterlogged tank from taking out the whole system.
- Taco Circulator Pumps
- Taco Zone Valves
- Grundfos Circulator Pumps
- Bell & Gossett Circulator Pumps
- Extrol Expansion Tanks
- Installation
- Replacement
- Repair