Actual fuel savings with new boiler

Steve Garson_2

I've been carefully tracking my oil usage and degree days for my old converted coal boiler with Beckett Flame Retention oil burner compared to my new Weil Mclain SGO-4 with a Carlin EZ-Pro burner. Ed Wallace did the install.

Just received my second fill-up so the numbers are in: On a degree day normalized basis, my oil usage has gone down by 32%!

Tomorrow I have the oil company coming in to reduce the nozzle size from 1.10 to 1.0 to try to reduce the whistling on some air vents from the rapid steaming. On a recent zero degree day, the burner only ran 15 minutes per hour.

Weil McLain said I can down-fire up to 20% before I have sooting problems. How do I determine whether to install a 1.0 gph or a 0.90 gph??

Mark Hunt

UUUUUgh!


It is not just about GPH, it is also about combustion and heat transfer.

W-M says you can "fill in the blank" but that is an over the phone answer and may not apply to YOUR SPECIFIC SYSTEM. How the heck does a person on the phone know what you have???

Have you consulted Ed on this? What did he say?

Any change you make to that boiler requires a complete combustion diagnostic. Might be that a .90 nozzle will cover heat demand, but will it pass the combustion test??

I do love it when manufacturer customer service people hand out info!

Note to homeowners calling the manufacturer for info....is it not possible that the person you are talking to was wearing an orange smock the day before?

Mark H

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Steve Garson_2

Mark:

My specific system, on a 0*F day, burns 12 minutes an hour with a 1.1 gph nozzle. My vents whistle on steam cycles, even with 6oz pressure.

In speaking with Ed, he was at a loss and suggested I contact Steamhead, who felt that the boiler may be over-fired.

I know that you can't reduce the firing rate without assuring that the combustion efficiency is still at the same level or you start sooting.

My oil dealer will be coming to change the nozzle, tune the system and test the combustion levels.

We're looking at this as a "system". When people say that on the coldest days, the boiler should run for long cycles and mine runs 12 minutes, it seems reasonable that the firing rate is the cause of the vent whistling, don't you think? The boiler is the correct size for the radiator EDR. There is also a baseboard loop running off a head exchanger.

I guess my house is just well insulated and sealed.