combo oil and gas burners

mjj_2

To maintain fuel flexibility we were planning to replace our 37-yr-old oil-fired boiler with a new oil boiler and gas conversion burner. However, I recall reading in past posts that this combination was susceptible to high CO levels. How common is this problem? One of the reasons we're thinking of switching from oil to gas is off-gassing of oil vapors in our current heating system, and I would hate to exchange that problem for a CO concern.

An old HVAC text (Brumbaugh, 1983) I was looking through describes a combination oil and gas burner with safety features and "independent ignition and control systems for gas and oil" Is such a system safe? Is it still on the market?

Unknown

I've only

installed dual fuel burners in commercial applications , never seen one for the residental market . Do you know what size in btus your new boiler will be ? Also , many boiler manufacturers will not warantee a boiler with an unapproved burner firing in them . None of the 6 or 7 brands we install have a gas or dual fuel gun rated for their oil boilers . I wonder what the feasability of side by side oil and gas boilers would be ? I'm guessing return on the investment would nix that idea .

Josh M.

There are lots of great dual fuel burners out there. They should NEVER be suceptable to high CO or any other emmission if set up right. You should always set up your primary fuel first then set up your secondary fuel to match the air settings of the first fuel. A trick that I like to do is set up my natural gas first because I have a meter to accuratly clock the firing rate. Then I will set up the oil side to match the gas side. The proportional amount of exess air should be linear for both fuels. The type of burner depends on the application. Gordon-Piatt, wieshaupt, webster, riello, and north american to name a few make these burners. I would recommend the Wieshaupt W burner for residential applications.

Unknown

Josh

does the dual fuel burner manufacturer assume liability on the boilers they are installed in ? I know Burnham and Peerless will not assume any liability on a burner not rated for their residential boilers .

mjj

Thanks

Thanks Josh and Ron Jr. for listing the brands of dual fuel boilers, while at the same time raising the liability issue of matching incompatible boilers and burners. I'm about to do my heat loss calc. to estimate boiler size.

Josh M.

Ron, I honestly don't know about the liability issue. Weishaupt is a german burner. I believe that they also make burners for Viessemen cast iron sectionals and commercial fire tubes. I would look into that. The BTU ratings for a modulating dual fuel burner range from 40,000 btu's to 170,000 for the model V. They also have a wide range of other options in the residential market. You should check out their website at www.weishaupt-corp.com .

Unknown

I used to

convert boilers to gas with a Wayne or Carlin gun , it's been so long I forget which one . But that was years ago and before we became such a litigious society .

My old boss had a rental home with an old piece of crap Repco . If the tenant skipped paying the gas bill and were shut down , he'd send me over to swap out the gas gun for an oil . We made it all up so it took less than an hour for the switch .