watts boiler energy saver (BES)

todd_14

Mike,

Thanks for the advice. I did print out info on a Tekmar 260 Outdoor rest controller.

Any additional advice or help??

I still have some questions though and posted again at:

http://forums.invision.net/Thread.cfm?CFApp=2&Thread_ID=59540&mc=1

todd_14

opinions on boiler controller such as Beckettor watts (BES)-

Has anybody have advice on using a Beckett Heat Manager, Intellicon HW+ Fuel Economizer or Watts BES (Boiler Energy Saver) unit or similar units by other companies for an oil fired boiler?

I have a mid 80's valliant boiler (225k, using a Blue Angle HS burner with with a 1.75 gph nozzle (194k btu net boiler).

It runs 3 zones each with its own big B&G circulator feeding CI radiators. (Note: each radiator on a zone is fed with a pair of monoflo valves/tees) The house is big old & drafty.

I use aprox. 1600 gallons a year

Are these units problematic?

Will it save me oil? Cost seems to be about $170 - $200.

Which brand would you recommend?

Is there a simple outdoor reset controller that I should consider instead?

The boiler uses a std. Aquastat set @ 180.


Any advise or help would be appreciated.

Eaglerock

used this device

Mike C._4

Heat managers

I have the next size down Valliant cold start boiler with a reillo burner. I installed a used Intellidyne heat manager on it that I got on ebay for about 90 bucks. The boiler needs to be set up so it won't start above app. 140 deg. A cold start obviously doesn't do that. Yours sounds like it maintains temp at a certain differential. The heat manager basically widens out the differential temps from on-off but it also looks at the load. It sort of learns the rate of the load drain and starts the boiler based on that. I think heat managers work best with a higher water volume boiler as it use the residual heat in the economizing mode (when the boiler wants to be on but the controller is holding it off)to supposedly reduce the number of on-off cycles. Boilers are more efficient operating at fewer longer cycles rather than more shorter ones. Also, The residual heat in the boiler is reduced thus keeping that loss down. I see mine economizing all the time. If the boiler had more water it probably would work better. With your oil use I would think an upgrade to an outdoor reset control scheme may be a better choice. Heat managers are basically a "poor man's outdoor reset" They are cheaper to install. The Intellidyne unit appears to has a little edge on the beckett model as it has supposedly has a more flexible learning capability. Intellidyne makes the beckett model to their specs. I haven't had any problems with mine. It has a bypass switch to deactivate the unit and let the boiler run as normally set up.