Peerless WV-05 conversion to gas

Deeke

I have a few questions for the experts here:

Is my boiler a good candidate for conversion to gas? Peerless WV-05 has two firing rates. Mine is 1.75 GPM, at 245K BTU (input), with a Beckett burner and 1.50 nozzel at 140 psi. The higher rate is 1.95 GPM and 273K BTU (which I'm not using)



What kind of conversion burner would you recommend? Carlin EZ? Riello? Pros and cons? Can I downfire the gas burner 10% lower than 245K without issues, or 245K is already the lower limit? The boiler is oversized in any case.



I will have the chimeny relined. Current chimney is 7 inches, the new liner will have to be smaller, say, 6. Will it work well with 6?

Thanks!

meplumber

Time to call in a Pro.

Oil to Gas conversions are not DIY projects at all.  Please do not try this yourself.



As for whether your equipment is a candidate for conversion, your technician can obtain that information from Peerless.  They will give him the proper conversion burner and any pertinent setup data for the change over. 



Good Luck.

Deeke

Meplumber, thanks for your response

but it's not the answer I was looking for.

No this will NOT be a DIY job. I don't think it was mentioned or even hinted anywhere in my post that this would be a DIY. I don't think this is a DIY forum either.



For the conversion I will hire some pro for sure. I'm in northern NJ. If Tim or Frank (steamhead) is close to me, I would hire them in a heartbeat. Unfortunately they are in RI and MD. Don't know they are willing to travel to NJ. If someone could recommend a good pro that would be great. I know I can do a search at "find a contractor" but I have no way to know how good they are at conversions (there are only 2 listed in NJ). Are the contractors on this website pre-selected or anyone can get listed here?



Just trying to do my homework at this point. My experience is that different contractors often give different proposals, sometimes quite different. It always pays to have a good understanding of the project, if only helps to pick the right contractor.



Thanks again, and this is a hot water boilder by the way.

meplumber

Still. Call Peerless.

Peerless is the boiler manufacturer.  Any burner that is put on their boiler, must be approved by them to continue its Listing.  All central heating appliances must be Listed, by UL or CSA or ....  So a phone call to them could save you the hassle.



By contacting them, they can tell you if that boiler was tested with a gas power burner and if so, which one. 

Deeke

Peerless

has not tested any after market burners or endorsed any. Factory warrenty will be voided once a gas burner is put in. I am fully aware of this and is willing to take the risk on my own. I'm hoping that the exprienced people here who have done conversions can help me evaluate any potential risk or issues, so I'll be better informed before making a decision.

Tim McElwain

Deeke

What is the full model number of the Peerless? What Beckett burner is it presently using for oil?



Peerless like a lot of burner manufacturers do not test their boilers designed for oil with gas burners. It is not feasible from a marketing standpoint typically in the past. That may change as they perhaps find that boilers with oil burners do not sell very well.



Carlin has however tested some burners which is why I asked for full model numbers. Carlin EZ can go to 275,000 BTU's and would probably be a great choice. I would still put it up to Peerless just to see if they may have recently had a change of mind.



As to derating is it because the boiler is still over sized at its present setting? Has a heat loss been done and a measure of radiation?

Deeke

Thanks Tim

Believe it or not, WV-05 is the full model number of the boiler. Please see attached spec sheets of Peerless oil boilers.



The Beckett burner is a AFG flame retention burner. Also see the attached spec.



The boiler has a 245MBH input and 212MBH heating capacity (85.5% efficiency). It is connected to three zones - two air handler coils and a Peerless PP-40 (40 gallon) indirect water heater (priority zone). Each air handler coil has about 70K BTU capacity. One coil heats the first floor, the other one for the second floor. The coils were put in by the previous home owner.



Even when the two heating zones call for heat at the same time it only uses 140K BTU/hour. So the boiler is oversized for the house. What is worse is when only one zone calls for heat. The boiler only heats for 4 mintues to reach 180F and shuts down (the air handler blows at the same time), and then the blower works for another 8 mintues before the boiler comes on again. So every hour there's 5 heat cycles, and in each 12-min cycle the boiler only heats for 4 minutes. It's not an efficient setup - a big horse pulling a small wagon. I could either change to a bigger wagon (larger coil), or make the horse smaller (downfiring). But I don't want to create any safety issue by downfiring. I heard 10% lower rate if probably ok, but since my boiler is rated at 245-275MBH, I wonder if it can go 10% lower than 245?



BTW, no heat loss calculation has been done. But even if with a good heat loss calculation, I'm still limited by the capacity of the two coils (unless I change to a mod/con,, which I'm not planning due to high cost) - correct?

Tim McElwain

I believe

you must have WV-05-200 which can probably handle as low as 225,000 BTU's input as its lowest setting. I would definitely however run that by the folks at Peerless in the engineering department. If I were doing the job I would experiment with lower ratings which is typically against my normal direction which is to fire to maximum rated input in order to get the correct thermal efficiency out of the package. This is why a combustion analysis is so important so that the burner can be dialed in to the maximum efficiency.



I would still have a heat loss done so we can match up as close as the boiler will let you get away with.



Think about cold spots in your dwelling and perhaps some base board in those areas to use up some of the excess BTU to your advantage.



Can you possibly lower the blower speed on the air handlers, I assume the air handler is so you can also have AC and typically the blower runs at higher speeds on AC, if possible lower the blower speed  to a point that maintains a duct temperature between 105 to 140 degrees with the blower running. Your AC folks can help you with that. What is the location of the air handlers, is one perhaps in the attic?