pilot on boiler

Matt_70

Hi everyone,

A few months ago I moved into a new house that has a crown aruba boiler. The house is about ten years old, the boiler is feeding 4 zones of baseboard heat. The boiler has a pilot light and I would assume that this pilot running for the next six months can't be good for my gas bill. The boiler is 140,000 btu's, and I can actually hear the gas running to the pilot and the flue pipe stays warm even though there is no call for heat. Seems like a lot of wasted energy. Any suggestions for mimimizing the waste of gas? Should I change to an electronic ignition? Should I just shut the gas off to the boiler? Someone mentioned to me that the pilot light is good to keep going because it will rid the boiler of any condensation that builds up over the summer. The boiler room is not air conditioned and the fresh air vents will certainly allow a significant amount of heat and humidity into the room in the coming months.

Thanks in advance!

Big Ed_4

Keep it running

Say you have a 5 btu pilot , over the next six months it may burn 21k btu of gas , less then one therm of gas .. 100k = one therm .. Say you pay $3 per them .. You can save 60 cents ??

Robert O'Brien

Standing pilots

will be discontinued on all new boilers per Federal law in 2012

Matt_70

Hey - 60 cents adds up over the years

Thinking about it a little further I am going to look through the manual to see if there is an adjustment for the pilot. The pilot seems to me that it is burning way too high. I guess I was more concerned about the whole condensation issue and if it is true that the pilot should stay on to avoid condensation build up. If standing pilots are being done away with however, I guess the condensation issue may not be as bad as what I've heard. Then again, I can't imagine a government regulation that wasn't thought through

Shark

turning down pilot..

Hi Matt, be careful turning down the pilot .. in some cases a low pilot light can result in delayed ignition. Maybe the pilot is too high .. how is the gas pressure to the boiler ? Just a few thoughts to consider ..

Unknown

The only condensation

going on in a boiler is the byproduct left from the pilot. Condensation from the air only happens when something is cooler than condensing point. Since the water in your boiler is the same temp as the surrounding air it does not condense the air.

Gary P

Boiler pilot

I would recomend having a contractor installing a electronic ignition and ask about installing a vent damper.This will increase the boilers effciency. It may cost a bit to install but you will save in the long run. Good investment

Unknown

Do not get rid of your pilot and leave it alone

a retrofit to electric ignition and a vent damper is going to run you about $800 to $1,000 dollars the return on your investment is about 8 years. It cost about $130 a year to run the pilot on most boilers and keeping some temperature in your boiler means it is not a cold start which helps with efficiency.

That along with the increased servicing that electric igntion and vent dampers need you are better off with a standing pilot. The DOE does not make very good decisions when it comes to real efficiency so stick with what you have.

Matt_70

thank you!

Thank you all so much - lots of good advice. When I checked the pilot adjustment, the screw was MAXED to the highest position - that couldn't have been good. I lowered the pilot to the recommended height and this morning the flue was noticeably cooler (as was the boiler room). I hate to think of how much gas was being wasted. I already have a vent damper installed, and since the DOE is outlawing standing pilots, I figure they probably work better than electronic ignitions and I should keep it Seriously though, for now I will keep it and see how it goes. I did check the boiler to make sure that the new pilot height didn't cause any delayed igniting and all seems to be working fine, but at least I know to keep an eye on that as well. Thank you all again!! Much appreciated!!

Unknown

To properly adjust

a pilot you need to do it with a millivolt meter attached so that you adjust to the maximum millivolts.

Jim Davis_3

Most pilots are 1000 btus +

The pilot on most boilers are going to be at least a 1000 btus. So you can take .60 cents times 200. During the heating season pilots keep the water warm.. During the summer they should be turned off.