Pressure

thfurnitureguy_7

Steamhead, V-905A Burnham I wondered if that was an option. So the high fire would drop off after the first pressure cycle?

thfurnitureguy_8

Pressure

I just found my dif. setting was at 2 on my p-trol rather than 1. How much difference will that extra 1 psi make on the oil bill?
I wish I would have checked it at the beginning of the season........

Al Letellier_9

pressure setting

Here comes the "it depends" answer again. If your system is really tight and all the vvents are working properly, probably not a lot of difference. The boiler will run a little longer to make another pound of steam pressure but will also take a little longer to lose the pressure and recycle. If, however, you have bad vents or a pressuretrol that is not functioning correctly, the sky is the limit as to how much extra fuel you will burn. Check the system carefully or have a pro to a quick inspection, make any repairs needed, pay him, thank him, and enjoy the nice heat.

Steamhead (in transit)

Was it still

shutting off on pressure?

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thfurnitureguy_8

Sorry for the delayed answer. It still is shutting down on pressure. The system is prety tight. I was wondering what kind of trade off there is between frequent cycles and pressure build up. It takes about 2 min. to drop the 1 psi.
Would a vaporstat be worth a try? I guess it would be hard to know with out a test of some kind. In theory it would cycle more times but run shorter each cycle. Coast times should stay the same. I still plan to drop the nozzle back next season. ps I love my heat guy. Not perfect but knows more than rest I have used and is willing to learn what he does'n know. Very stand up guy that reads this site.

mel rowe

I don't understand why it should be staying on long enough to even reach that kind of pressure. If the mains are vented correctly so that the steam fills the entire main before starting to feed the rads, and the air vents on the rads are balanced closely enough to assure fairly even heating, then is the stat in the very coldest spot in the house and keeping the boiler running even after most of the rad air vents have shut off? Or alternately, is the boiler oversized and builds steam very quickly? Just some thoughts, because I've been through it myself. With all the above taken care of and by downfiring my boiler to just the attached load, most times my boiler never even gets above 4 or 5 oz. of pressure before the stat shuts it down. Occasionally, when it does cycle maybe once, my new vaporstat shuts the boiler off at 8 oz. and cuts back on at 4 oz. I think, however, that the if the system is set up and working correctly, the pressuretrol probably never even operates. FWIW

Steamhead (in transit)

Which V9 boiler was that?

I wonder if it's available with a low-high-low burner? If so, I'd recommend going that way. Low-high-low mimics the old coal fire that was controlled by dampers- once the pickup factor is satisfied it switches to low fire, giving a nice long burn.

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thfurnitureguy_7

Mel, I have been working on this with Steamhead in the past. We have cut about 1/3 of the oil useage and the building and 6 apartments heates prety evenly. The limitations are due to the size of the boiler and a very poor building envelope. We are improving all as we go. so far we are getting better each year. To date we added 300 feet of insulation to the mains and risers, added 6 Gorton #2 vents (6 more to go) added 4 missing radiators, re- worked the returns, adding U seals to stop steam from backing up the returns.
The final step would be to re-size the boiler but, I would like to add a second floor to expand our retail space and this would require the larger boiler. for right now were making what we have better. Sounds like you have been thru it too.

Steamhead (in transit)

As far as I know

low-high-low isn't available from Beckett or Carlin in that size. I wonder if they're working on offering it though?

You are correct, once pressure starts to build the Vaporstat would signal the burner to drop to low fire.

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mel rowe

Didn't realize that you were working with Steamhead right along. You're in good hands. The final result should be very interesting. Please let us know how it works out.