Is this why people prefer gas?

heatboy

These are two identical system, except one is fired with gas and the other is oil fired. The gas (clean) boiler has two years since last service and the oil boiler has one year since it's last service.



I keep hearing that fuel oil will get cleaner. Blah, blah. I wonder where all that sulfur goes that gets removed form diesel fuel?

Robert O'Brien

Among

many other reasons,some valid,some not!

Unknown

Oil-fired

Biferral units can be set-up to run almost as clean,,, I`m with Robert.

heatboy

12.7% CO2.............

....... at a zero smoke and 30% excess air is what the oil fired burner was set to. No soot at all on the heat exchanger. Just this.



The gas burner was set to 9.5% CO2 with 25 % excess air.



So much for a bad set-up..........

Mark Eatherton

Environ-MENTAL considerations?

One was in the city, the other on the edge of a corn field?



Love your photograph Jeff :-)



Great to see your words here. Don't be a stranger.



ME

heatboy

Both are country living.

These are both low temp applications. About 8K squareft. of radiant with DHW. Nether boiler exceeds 125°F except for DHW production.



I believe the sulfur in #2 fuel precipitates out of the exhaust around 150°F, as opposed to water precipitating around 110°, so maybe that has something to do with it? I don't generally see this amount of residue on oil fired boilers that run a higher temps.

Steve Ebels_3

Hmmmmmmmm

Almost looks like a bit of condensation on the oil unit........but ...gas should contain more water vapor than oil all things considered.  We just took apart an oil fired Vitorond 200 we had not touched in three years and it was nearly spotless inside. That boiler runs a little higher temp, up to 140-150 at design conditions. Usually when i peak in on it the temp is at 120-135*    Possible fuel contaminants?

Steamhead

HB, do we know

how much headroom they left between the point at which the oil burner started to make smoke, and the final setting? Example- smoke appears if CO2 is higher than 13.9%, so we set the burner for 13.4 or so if it's cold outside, lower if you're tuning it on a warm day.



We need some headroom, but too much can cool the flame to the point where it leaves a lot of deposits.



Also, what's the chimney like? If it's an old coal-converted chimney, it can overwhelm a draft regulator and make the air-fuel mix leaner than it should be, so you may need to install a larger one or a second one.

Unknown

Frank would know,,,,

and I`m bewildered how you wouldn`t.



Low-temp gas fired "systems" customary ti the bi-ferrall design are acceptable,,,,,

low-temp oil-fired(as its much hotter), is un-acceptable to this design as condensation will be the result and corrosion will be evident.

Dennis

People prefer gas, because

together the price and maintenance are cheaper. Now if oil were 25 cents a gallon like when I was a child, people would once again prefer oil over gas. Unfortunately oil is a commodity with a wildly fluctuating price, people like stability, gas for the most part has a stable price. I would bet if the price of gas where to rise slowly, even if it ended higher than oil, people would not change to lower priced oil. I have done 100's of oil to gas change outs due to wildly swinging oil prices. In the end the price settles back, but once the heater and oil tank are gone, the customer will not spend the money to go back, because they realize that would be a major investment, on top of the one they just made. Now my brother has the best of both worlds, he has an oil fired boiler, with a new Weil Mclain Ultra right next to it. He has a cannon plug to switch over the control wiring.He is going to remove two of his 3 oil tanks. Lucky him, I have a gas fired boiler, he has oil so he gets the oil removed from change outs, for free. He would have stayed with oil only, but he bought the Ultra for peanuts from a guy on Craigslist who was going to install it in a rehab.

ScottMP

People prefer gas because

- gas burns cleaner

- once the gas is set up it ussually dosn't go out of wack in a week

- theres no filter to pick up some dirt or water to screw up the setting

- the Gas company dosn't forget to fill the pipe and let their house freeze

- the power venter dons't blow black all over the side of their house

- the gas dosn't need an additive to stop it from jelling up in the winter.

- the gas dosn't get dirt stuck in the nozzle and clog up the boiler

- their basement dosn't stink

- the gas boiler can run at 95% or higher

- their Viessmann looks cleaner after a year than with oil

  Just some thoughts ....  

Jean-David Beyer

One more for your list.

11.) You do not have to pay $1500 to have the tank removed, nor do you have to pay about $50,000 for remediation to satisfy the D.E.P. and keep the dead oil tank in the yard for over 6 months while the insurance companies battle it out.

Dennis

oil or gas

Now my challenge to the oil industry and all oil techs, what can be done to change this? In my service area, I still find coal to oil converted boilers, and 1725 RPM burners. Last month I removed one such unit, it had a 12 inch breach, and the original oil gun from the 1940's. Now I can understand leaving this relic in place if the owner is poor, but this guy is a successful attorney, who is involved in the political realm, his wife is a teacher at a public school. Their oil provider did them a big favor 10 years ago, by installing a DWH. Nothing like running a poorly insulated boiler the size of a VW bus during the summer. How about allowing the boiler to maintain 120 degrees so the water tank can keep up on a cold start of the boiler, which holds 30 gallons of water. I can understand these folks were their best customer for oil sales, but now they have lost them forever. These folks actually loved their oil guy, and that is the only way oil is going to stay in peoples homes. Customers with a personal relationship to their oil techs, and their bosses will put up with a few disappointments. What broke these folks was the boiler running out of oil 3 times last winter, while the owner played the futures market, they had auto delivery. Due to this, the burner sooted the boiler with a nice 3/4 inch layer of soot, later this caused the chimney to plug with soot. The resulting clog coupled with the stack switch, filled their basement with a thick layer of soot. And like most people who stay in a house for 40 years the basement was filled with their precious stuff. Now the boiler is a 140,000 gas instead of the 2 gph oil, the existing TT water heater allowed to cold start the boiler, reducing the basement temperature, and it is not fighting the air conditioning in summer. The tank is gone, allowing 32 cubic feet more storage space, but the soot remains, each time they move a box they find more to remind them of the soot factory they once had in the cellar. Now I am the hero, the a/c guy who told them to get rid of the system 10 years prior during the central a/c installation. If only the oil company had changed out the boiler when they installed the indirect tank, things would have been different.

TonyS

Even Exxon knows

what fuel to invest in. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/business/20091215_Exxon_Mobil_to_buy_natural_gas_company_that_drills_in_Pa_.html



Without getting political, everyone knows that one day not too far away they will turn on the news and find things happening that will cause oil prices to spiral out of control. Natural gas is DOMESTICALLY produced...#1 reason for using it.

heatboy

I went through.......

...... all of the manuals and drawings I have concerning the Vitola and nowhere does it say low temperature oil applications are "unacceptable". If it is written somewhere, I need to know because I have dozens of them out there. Please let me know where I can see that before I cause myself more issues.



As far as setting them up to run optimally, I think I have a handle on that.



My point, I think, was the fact that gas seems to have a huge advantage over oil, when it comes to operational efficiencies, and the oil industry is doing nothing about it.

DanHolohan

I'd like to share with you this e-mail I just got from Judy Garber:

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL Taking a Sad Experience and Turning into Something Good





The Association learned very recently of the passing of James McComas,

owner of McComas Fuel Co., Baltimore, MD.  Jim passed away at the age

of 51.  This news was shocking to many in the MD oilheat community.

 When National V.P. Ralph Adams, Parker Fuel Co., heard of his friend's

passing he immediately recalled the early days of he and Jim sitting

together in class learning about oilheat.  Ralph knew that Jim was a

strong believer in Oil Heat and ongoing Education.  Thus, the idea of

keeping Jim's memory alive through a scholarship was a natural for

Ralph to suggest.  MAPDA stepped up to the plate and said they would

fund the 1st award and it will be given at NAOHSM's annual convention

and trade show.





I had the opportunity to meet the McComas Family at the chapter's

Christmas Party held this week.  Emmalee and three of her five children

were in attendance.  A 50/50 raffle was held at the event and the

winner, Mike Hodge, donated it back to the scholarship fund.  To say

the family was moved by the support of the chapter is an

understatement.  If anyone wishes to send a card of encouragement to

Emmalee, her address is:  Emmalee McComas, 16708 JM Pearce Rd.,

Monkton, MD  21111.



Good Stuff from the Garden State Chapter





Many of you reading this might recall the challenge made to our

chapters regarding a Food Drive.  It was suggested that January and

February are probably better months because people tend to nest for the

winter and really the Food Banks need help 12 months of the year.  It

goes without saying that many of the food banks are being stressed this

year because of the economy.   I suspect that this problem with

continue for some time.





Well the Garden State Chapter jumped right in and had a food drive at

their Holiday Party earlier this month and collected nearly 150 pounds

of food and delivered it to the Union Township Food Pantry.  They

encouraged their members to bring food and for every 5 items brought to

the meeting, the member received an extra 50/50 ticket.  Good idea!!



What does Oil Heat Cares and High Schools have in Common



How about real life experiences.  Recently the New York City Chapter

worked with a tech school, the Alfred E. Smith School, Bronx NY.  They

replaced a boiler in a local VFW building.  This building serves the

community with dinners a couple times a week and more - more meaning

that we plan to use this facilty to host our next Oil Heat Seminar -

April 2011.  So it is a win, win for all.  Check out this project and

others by visiting the showcase at [url=http://www.oilheatcares.com]www.oilheatcares.com.



Just in Time for the Holidays





Tomorrow, Saturday, a couple of Oil Heat Cares Projects will be done.

 Talk about helping those in our communities.  The Fairfield County

Chapter and the Eastern CT Chapter will both be helping someone get

heat just in time for the cold winter weather.



My suspicion is that those helping will walk away feeling very good about helping someone in need.



Convention 2010





Pay a Visit to [url=http://www.naohsm.org]www.naohsm.org

and click on 2010 Convention Page - you will get a preview of our 57th

annual convention and trade show.  Keep checking back for updates.

 With a new location there will be new training opportunities, a new

products display area, and something special for the Women of the

Industry - sorry guys, just for ladies!







MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM NAOHSM.  AS YOU TRAVEL, STAY SAFE.



(The oil-heat people ain't so bad - D.H.)