Southern Michigan Heating & Cooling

Service · Hillsdale, MI

Boiler Replacement in Hillsdale, MI

The radiators will outlast the next three boilers

In Hillsdale, MI and across the county: replacing the heat source without tearing out distribution that will outlast the next three boilers.

26.7 percent of housing in Hillsdale County, Michigan predates 1940, and much of it still heats hydronically. Replacing the boiler is a far smaller job than replacing the system.

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Three blue gas boilers installed side by side in a basement mechanical room with a water heater to the left
  • 26.7% of county housing built in 1939 or earlier — the stock that came with hydronic heat US Census ACS B25034
  • $250 MiPropane per unit for an ENERGY STAR propane boiler replacing electric or fuel oil Michigan Propane Commission
  • Separate licence classification — hydronic heating is not the same as HVAC equipment LARA Bureau of Construction Codes

What Replacing a Boiler Actually Involves

Replacing a boiler is not the same job as replacing a furnace, and the difference is usually good news: the radiators and the pipework normally stay. What comes out is the boiler and its immediate connections. What goes back in has to match the system it is joining.

The parts of the job

  • Assessing the existing system — hot water or steam, single or two pipe, the condition of the radiators and the pipework, and whether the system has been altered over the years.
  • Sizing to the radiators, not to the old boiler. The heat output the emitters can actually deliver is the constraint. Replacing like-for-like repeats whatever error was already there.
  • The near-boiler piping, which on a steam system is not optional detail — it is what makes the system work at all.
  • Circulators, expansion tank, controls and safeties, replaced or carried over depending on condition.
  • Flue and venting, which change if you move to a condensing unit, and a condensate drain that needs somewhere to go.

What to ask before you sign

Ask what the sizing was based on. Ask whether the near-boiler piping is being redone or reused. And ask which licence classification the work falls under, because hydronic heating is issued separately from HVAC equipment — see below.

Replace the Boiler, Keep the Distribution

A gas water heater and an older boiler side by side against a painted basement wall
Water heater and boiler sharing one flue. If the boiler is replaced with a sealed-combustion unit, the water heater is suddenly venting alone into a chimney sized for two appliances — that has to be dealt with in the same visit.

The expensive part of a hydronic system is not the boiler. It is the radiators and the pipework threaded through the building, and those routinely outlive several boilers — which is why a replacement normally keeps them and swaps only the appliance. Converting the house to forced air instead means finding chases for ductwork the building never had, which in a pre-war house is a renovation rather than a mechanical job.

Which makes boiler replacement one of the least disruptive major HVAC jobs available in this housing stock. The heat source changes; the radiators, the pipe runs and the holes already in the building all stay. Compare that with converting to forced air, which means finding chases for a duct system in a house that was never designed to carry one — and see ductwork for what that usually turns into.

If the goal behind the question is actually air conditioning — which radiators cannot deliver — that is a separate and cheaper problem. See ductless mini-splits.

Sizing a Replacement Boiler

The trap is replacing like for like. Boilers in this stock were frequently sized for the house as it was — before insulation, before replacement windows, sometimes before an addition changed the shape of the load entirely. Hillsdale County is IECC climate zone 5A, "Cold", per DOE Building America, with 6,469.8 heating degree days a year on the NOAA 1991–2020 normals and a January mean minimum of 17.5°F.

That load should be calculated rather than inherited. An oversized boiler short-cycles exactly as an oversized furnace does, and on a propane system it does so while burning fuel that was delivered by truck and paid for in advance. Ask what the replacement was sized against.

The Licence Classification to Ask For

Michigan issues Mechanical Contractor licences by work classification through LARA's Bureau of Construction Codes, and hydronic heating is its own classification — distinct from HVAC equipment, ductwork, refrigeration, fuel gas piping and LP distribution piping. Each requires a minimum of three years' experience plus its own PSI exam, under the Skilled Trades Regulation Act, 2016 PA 407.

A contractor perfectly qualified to replace your neighbour's furnace may not hold the hydronic classification. Ask which classifications they hold and check the answer against LARA's public licence lookup before work starts. In this county the check is not theoretical — of the five HVAC businesses listed with Hillsdale addresses, one has held an expired licence since 2020 and still appears in search results.

One question we have not closed

Whether a residential hydronic boiler additionally falls under Michigan's Boiler Act of 1965, or sits purely under the mechanical contractor classification, is open with LARA's Boiler Division. We are not stating it either way until we have the answer. If someone tells you confidently one way or the other, ask what they are citing.

Boiler Replacement Rebates in 2026

  • MiPropane, $250 per unit toward an ENERGY STAR propane boiler — conditional on replacing electric or fuel oil equipment, a Michigan-licensed installer, new ENERGY STAR equipment, and no pairing with a heat pump. Installed and applied for during 2026. If the old system was oil, this applies; propane replacing propane does not.
  • Consumers Energy, $65 for a furnace or boiler tune-up, for its gas customers. There is no Consumers boiler replacement rebate. And note the supplier question: Hillsdale and Coldwater are on Michigan Gas Utilities Corporation, not Consumers.
  • MiHER through EGLE is live in two tracks; we quote no per-measure figure because there is no official table and it is subject to funding availability.
  • Nothing federal. 25C applies only to property placed in service before 31 December 2025, and 25D is likewise unavailable after that date, per the IRS.

We publish no boiler replacement price because we have no sourced figure, local or statewide — unlike furnaces, where we do and it is labelled. See what things cost and boiler repair.

We cover boiler replacement in every town and township in the county.

Boiler Replacement FAQ

Can I replace the boiler and keep my radiators?

Almost always, and it is usually the right answer. Cast iron radiators and the pipework feeding them routinely outlast several generations of boiler, so replacing the heat source while keeping the distribution is a far smaller job than converting a house to forced air. In a pre-1940 structure — 26.7 percent of this county’s housing, per ACS table B25034 — that conversion means finding chases for ductwork the building was never designed to give up. Keeping the hydronic distribution avoids all of it.

Is there a rebate for a new boiler in Hillsdale County?

MiPropane pays $250 per unit toward an ENERGY STAR propane boiler, on condition it replaces electric or fuel oil equipment, is installed by a Michigan-licensed installer, is new ENERGY STAR equipment, and is not paired with a heat pump. Installations must fall between 1 January and 31 December 2026 with applications due 31 December 2026. Consumers Energy’s 2026 measures include $65 for a furnace or boiler tune-up for its gas customers, but no boiler replacement rebate. And the federal 25C credit does not apply to anything placed in service after 31 December 2025.

What licence should a boiler installer hold in Michigan?

Hydronic heating is its own Mechanical Contractor classification under LARA’s Bureau of Construction Codes, separate from HVAC equipment, ductwork, refrigeration, fuel gas piping and LP distribution piping. Each classification requires a minimum of three years of experience plus its own PSI exam, under the Skilled Trades Regulation Act, 2016 PA 407. So a contractor licensed for furnaces is not automatically licensed for hydronic work — ask, and check the answer against LARA’s public licence lookup. Whether a residential boiler additionally falls under Michigan’s Boiler Act of 1965 is a question we still have open with LARA’s Boiler Division, and we are not going to state it either way until we have the answer.

What does a new boiler cost?

We are not going to publish a figure. We have a sourced Michigan-wide range for furnace replacement and we publish that with its label attached, but no equivalent sourced figure exists for boilers, and estimating one would be exactly the kind of authoritative-sounding invention this site avoids. Ask for the quote itemised — boiler, any pipework modifications, controls, venting, permits — and ask what the heat loss calculation was based on.

Should I switch from a boiler to a furnace while I am at it?

Rarely worth it in this housing stock. The conversion means a full duct system installed into a house built before ducts were a design consideration, plus removing working distribution that would otherwise last decades more. Where the actual goal is adding air conditioning — which radiators cannot deliver — a ductless system is normally the cheaper and less destructive route, and Consumers Energy pays its electric customers $350 toward one.

Ask About a Boiler Replacement

Tell us whether it is hot water or steam, what fuel it burns, and roughly how old the boiler and the radiators are. The radiators are usually the older and healthier half.

There is no phone number published on this site yet, so requests come in through this form — we reply by email or call you back on the number you give. That is also why the phone field is required rather than optional.

Where these numbers come from

Housing age: US Census American Community Survey table B25034. Climate and degree days: NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, Jackson Reynolds Field (KJXN); climate zone per DOE Building America. Licence classifications, experience requirement and governing statute: LARA Bureau of Construction Codes and the Skilled Trades Regulation Act, 2016 PA 407; the Boiler Act question is open with LARA's Boiler Division and deliberately unanswered above. Incentives: mipropanerebates.com, Consumers Energy 2026 programme documentation, EGLE and the IRS. Utility territories: Michigan Public Service Commission. Competitor licence status: our own audit, August 2026. No boiler replacement price is published because we have no sourced figure for one.