Questions about CSB paint

I was just looking over an old thread about painting CSBs and, quite frankly, it was kind of hard for this rookie to tell if the paint was being applied to the covers or the [high-temp] boiler section itself.

As some of you may (or may not) know, HandLogger and I are awaiting parts for our new [to us] Van Wert VA-600. While we wait for the parts to arrive, which, these days, could be a while, we thought about painting over the areas that we've wire-brushed to remove surface rust, but it seems to me that, with the right paint, we may just as well paint the entire boiler -- whether we decide to reinstall the insulated covers or not.

With this in mind, the question is which paints -- spray cans or brush type -- that folks rebuilding CSBs have had the best luck with?

I've seen numerous posts mentioning some variation of "high-heat silver," but I'd like to be able to place an order, so knowing exactly which brand and type was used would be very helpful to us.

Thank you very much for the help - VW

I have had good luck with "BBQ Paint" from the local hardware store. It is just a high-heat version of flat black. If you are going for a silver look Rust-Oleum makes an aluminum spray paint that should be available locally.

Unless you are looking to heat the boiler room with the boiler itself, I would plan on installing the insulated jacket.

Rob R. wrote: ↑

Sat. Jan. 09, 2021 9:17 am

I have had good luck with "BBQ Paint" from the local hardware store. It is just a high-heat version of flat black. If you are going for a silver look Rust-Oleum makes an aluminum spray paint that should be available locally.

Unless you are looking to heat the boiler room with the boiler itself, I would plan on installing the insulated jacket.

First, thanks for the post Rob R.

We are fortunate to have gotten a fairly large walkout type basement with this house. Considering the square footage of the basement, and the fact that the exterior doors are being used a lot, we are going to give using the VA-600 a go -- sans the insulated covers -- this winter. It appears that some of the folks here on the CPF have gotten some pretty good results via brushing and/or sanding down their boilers for painting, so we were thinking of doing the same. According to HL, the CSB will end up acting like a huge "radiator" that we're hoping will be effective for the basement area, and, as ever, a few well-placed fans should help with moving warm air up the main "split stairwell" that runs up from the basement to the front door landing and, from there, up to the main living area.

Although this may seem like I'm describing a traditional two-story home, the fact is that this house is really what they call a "raised ranch," in these parts, with a fairly large bump out on the rear, which ends up giving the layout an "L" shape. No matter how difficult it is to keep warm, we are usually very happy to have that walkout basement. Now all HL needs is a larger garage.

The boiler will act like a large radiator. Been there, done that. A hot boiler and a warm basement is very nice at this time of year...not so nice in the spring and fall. I have since insulated my boiler and installed a cast iron radiator in the basement on its own zone. Now I have the basement as warm as I want, and don't overheat the house in mild weather.

Rob R. wrote: ↑

Sun. Jan. 10, 2021 4:30 pm

The boiler will act like a large radiator. Been there, done that. A hot boiler and a warm basement is very nice at this time of year...not so nice in the spring and fall. I have since insulated my boiler and installed a cast iron radiator in the basement on its own zone. Now I have the basement as warm as I want, and don't overheat the house in mild weather.

Funny, you sound just like HandLogger. I grew up in the cold weather, he grew up in the opposite type of climate. In short, I don't like radiators, so we've argued about this very point a few times now. Adding some more baseboards to the house, on the other hand, is something we can talk about.

By the way, we don't plan to use the VW VA-600 to heat our DHW, so it shouldn't be "stoking" during the warm months...but I see your point about the so-called "milder" months....hmmmm...