converting from oil to propane

bobkbs

i have a weil maclain gold, oil fired hot water boiler 9 years old  serving 2 hydro air air handelers and a 80 gallon coil in the tank hot water heater .i would like to have the oil fired burner head  unit removed and a propane type unit installed could you tell me which is the most reliable propane burner head to use.the boiler is 250000 btu  .                  

Jamie Hall

There is, I hope,

a very good reason for doing this?  Around my area, at least, propane is considerably (like many times) more expensive per BTU than oil...

Dave Yates (GrandPAH)

regulated vs. not regulated

Propane is not price-regulated & they can charge whatever the market will bear! Last year we bid an oil-fired tank vs a Navian 98% eff propane tankless to replace an oil tank-style water heater (leaker). I ran the cost projections based on what they were paying for both fuels & the Navian won quite easily. We also won the bid. Turned out the fuel supplier was the losing bidder for the oil fired tank replacement. In retaliation, they jacked up the customer's propane delivered fuel cost! Local news station did an expose on several propane companies at the same time. One was charging an elderly widow-lady living in a mobile-home more than $6.00 a gallon (the national average was something like $3.25)! Our customer was steamed, but not at us and let's just say he received an adjusted/amended fuel bill(G).

Tim McElwain

The 250,000 BTU's

is a restriction on a typical residential gas conversion burner. That means you are looking at a small commercial burner. Look at Carlin and Midco burners as possible replacements if you insist on doing this changeover. I would also warn about who you hire to put the burner in make sure they have experience with Gas Conversions.



The other who posted here gave you the other things to be concerned about.



A good question is why do you want to convert?

icesailor

Oil Vs Propane price:

I'm not quite sure why you want to do this either but here is something to ponder.

Back when, it used to come up as to which way someone wanted to go for heating. Gas (LP) or oil. I would tell them that I didn't care one way or the other, that I do either one and the equipment costs about the same. Just the running cost. But here is a retarded way of comparing, What you pay for when you buy a fuel is the BTU content. Lets call a BTU a penny. (We all know the definition of a BTU). We'll put the pennies in a gallon bucket. There are 91,000 pennies/btu's in a gallon of Propane. There are 139,000 pennies/btu's in a gallon of #2 heating oil. Which bucket do you want? I never sold a gas system. OBTW, the efficiencies are quite close and when doing math, it doesn't cancel out.

icesailor

OIL Vs LP

Also,

If you are having problems with the oil burner, and it is a cold start, get someone to thoroughly clean it. That means opening up the front and cleaning out all the crud that is in the bottom. And change the burner to a Carlin or Riello. If it has a QB by WeilMcLain, get rid of it. Change it. This boiler runs very well and is very efficient. Stick with the oil.

If you insist on going gas, go all the way.

icesailor

Oil to Gas:

I just re-read your post.

If this boiler is a WGO7, it will have a QB-300 on it. Weil/McLain wouldn't certify this section boiler with anything but their QB burner that they stopped selling shortly after they came out. Something about "flame impingement on sections. I found a lot of impingement marks on these boilers with the QB. If it is a cold start, it will make slag like no other thing you will ever see. I have three together that I take 30+# of crud out every year. And that is taking out the refractory rug in the chamber. If this is so, get a Carlin EZ-66 from Carlin and have it all set up as a burner in a box. I replaced a QB disaster two years ago and this is one sweet operation. I think you may develop condensation problems and venting problems. You could develop a severe case of unintended consequences.