Boiler repair and replacement in Purcellville.

Inside the town limits natural gas heats only about one owner home in twenty, and propane about a third, with electricity close to half. The Town’s typical owner home went up in 2001, so a boiler that came with the house has about twenty-five winters on it, the age where a big repair deserves a replacement price beside it. Detached houses are about seven in ten owner homes inside the town limits.

The Town runs its own water system, and its FAQ notes that residents in new homes may see higher water pressure than at their previous home, suggesting a pressure reducer where the house has none. High pressure reaches the boiler through its fill valve, and it can push the loop up toward the relief valve, which then drips.

Inside the town limits the Town issues zoning permits and Loudoun County issues building permits, and the County won’t take a building permit application from inside the town without the Town’s approved zoning permit. The Town says a replacement kept to the same size in the same location typically needs no Town permit, and its Community Development staff will confirm. Ask before the job is scheduled, since the County’s application waits on that zoning step.

The Town’s water comes from the J.T. Hirst Reservoir and eleven wells. About one in five owner homes is a townhouse, and fewer than one in five predates 1980; the older houses near the town center are where a cast iron boiler on a chimney is still likely. About one in ten homes in town is rented, so the boiler decision is usually the owner’s own.