Utica Starfire 3 steam boiler- oil burner conversion to gas burner

Helm

I have a Utica Starfire 3 steam boiler that is about 7 years old. Works just fine but I would like to switch the existing Becket oil burner to a gas burner, like Carlin EZ gas, due to the high cost of oil.



Will this be okay to do? Any concerns? Will my town (I'm in Springfield NJ) approve of this? I know I have to get a chimney liner and get rid of the basement oil tank.



I have checked around and no one wants to do this conversion. They all want to put in a new atmospheric boiler. I'd prefer to keep the wet-based burner since it works well.



Utica doe not certify this and Carlin said it should be fine but they are in the process of testing the Starfire 3.



Any suggestions for a pro in North/Central NJ. I checked the "Find a Contractor" but no luck there.



Thanks!

Steamhead

The EZ-Gas should work fine in that boiler

have you tried the Find a Contractor page of this site? 

Helm

Thanks Steamhead

Yes, I did check "Find a Contractor" with no luck. I've done more "google" searches and may have found someone.



I'm surprised to find so many companies that say it can't be done.



Have you heard of a duel fuel burner that can be used? Sounded interesting from a local company - still waiting for the details from them.

Bio

dual fuel burner

I believe dual burner is use for industrial and commercial applications and it can be very expensive, the pro's can advise you better, I'm just a H/O

Steamhead

I think Bio is right

I don't know of any dual-fuel burners in residential sizes.



As for those guys who say it can't be done- we prove them wrong every time we do it. But the travel time from Baltimore to North Joisey would be an issue :-(

JStar

Damn

I need to get on the Find A Contractor page real quick.

KVNJR

I've had Shane Foster do some work

on my 100 yr old 1 pipe system with a 30 yr old Weil EG. He's in Union Beach / Keyport in Monmouth county, but he might be willing to go north to Springfield. I was very happy with his knowledge and ability. He should be in the "Find a Contractor" section on this site as well. That's how I located him.



Ken

Helm

Latest Contractor - no gas burner

The latest contractor after checking my current boiler said he does not recommend changing to a gas burner because the boiler is about 7 years old and it can't be cleaned thoroughly. Because of that he said the gas burner could cause a fire in the boiler. He indicated there are more potential problems than it is worth.



Any truth to that? Just one more contractor that does not want to put in a gas gun.



Thanks.

Bio

Gas Burner

I can tell you this, I have a boiler probably from the early sixties and American Standard Arcoliner (like this one see below) and the contractor gave me two estimates one for a gas burner retrofit and the other for new boiler, I went for the new boiler but I think Yes it can be done, it has to be a knowledgeable contractor

Steamhead

He's basically saying

he wants to sell you an entirely new boiler. Anyone who knows his business can clean a boiler properly.



Keep looking.

Helm

Thanks, guys

Just running out of contractors Got someone else coming on Tuesday.

JStar

...

I tried sending you a private message. I'd be more than happy to take a look at your system.

billtwocase

That is a good candidate

for an EZ gas burner, and an easy boiler to clean. If it was the first generation Starfire, I'd say go soup to nuts. Like Frank said, keep lookin

Steamhead

If it's that new

it's not first-generation. Go for it!

Helm

Carlin EZ Gas & Power Outages

Has anyone heard about any issues with the Carlin EZ gas and power outages? Which gas conversion burner would you folks recommend?

Steamhead

We have a bunch of EZ-Gas out there

and power failures don't cause trouble with them. If they did, we'd know about it...........

Helm

Thanks, All

Thought I would provide an update for my conversion.



Thanks to HeatingHelp.com I was able to find a great contractor - Joe of Ecuacool, LLC.



For folks in the NJ area I would highly recommend Joe.



Joe and his partner Edison did a great job on my conversion from the oil burner to a Carlin EZ gas conversion burner. Joe measured my radiators, determined my boiler was over sized. They did the burner conversion (downsized the burner to help save fuel), added a vaporstat, added vents to my 2 mains (never had any) and installed a chimney liner. They were professional and meticulous. As an example they ran a paper runner from the cellar entrance to the boiler to keep the floor clean (and I have an unfinished basement). Joe and I discussed that the near boiler piping was not originally done correctly.



I learned more about the near boiler piping and today Joe re-did the piping. He put in a nice drop header that will hopefully provide that nice dry steam.



So far for the last 2 months with gas (as well as all the improvements noted above) compared to the same period for the last 4 years with oil, I've saved about 50% AND this year we are keeping the temperature 4 degrees warmer (because my Mom moved in with us this past April). The system is no longer short-cycling and is running 2-4 ounces of pressure.



Thanks again to Joe and Edison for a job well done.

Steamhead

So how about some pictures?

We know Joe and his guys are good, but we love pictures........

JStar

Steam

Here are our Facebook pictures.



The conversion

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.393349547400960.87660.353747484694500&type=3



And the piping

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.424220284313886.94387.353747484694500&type=1



No before pictures. One of the boiler risers was supplying the header AFTER the main risers.



We also replaced one of the twinned Gorton 1’s wih a Gorton 2 after the conversion pictures were taken.

Bio

Solid!

Solid as always, happy boiler...happy customer