We have an old oil boiler in our 1920's home - it is not original to the home, but everyone that has seen it comments how old it is, but it runs well, until now...

Lately everytime the heat kicks on the burner kicks off a strong odor of oil. My kitchen is directly off the stairs to my basement and I can smell it there. Sometimes it will surprise us and not smell, but lets say for the most part it does smell...

We called for service on xmas eve and the guy came checked the exhaust and everything feasible and said it all looked good. He mentioned that the old burners can sometimes start to kick off odors and smoke as they are dying!

I am not ready for the prospect of replacing the boiler anytime this year!!

Has anyone ever had this problem?

We have a Carbon Monoxide/Fire detector down there just to be safe...