Burnham MST Oil to Gas

ctjomac

I know there are alot of older threads of converting oil to gas, but haven't seen much later concerning switch over. I have a newer 2010 Burnham MST 396 oil burner, 1 pipe steam. I installed it last fall and has really saved a boatload on fuel with the new drop header, etc.

I've been wanting to switch to a gas burner because the gas line can be installed at near no cost.

Which gas gun would you buy? Which ones install well, and which ones offer the best performance and LOW SOUND levels. Also, is it ok to vent this in an existing external clay lined chimney?



Thanks for your responses....joe

nicholas bonham-carter

oil to gas conversion

have a look at the specs for that boiler, and see if there is listed a gas burner version, and the make/model of burner it comes with.

next it would be a good idea to figure up the edr of your radiators, and compare that to the gas burner output, in order to choose the burner size which matches the edr. if the present boiler is oversized, it may be possible to downfire a bit to get closer.

don't forget to put on the maximum of main venting.--nbc

JStar

Gas

Carlin Ezgas goes in pretty much any boiler, but it can be noisy. Waynes are quiet but break every year. No experience with Midco yet.

Steve Garson_2

Gas Burner

You will also need to line the chimney. I use the EZ-Gas. Plan on the noise being much more than an oil burner due to the higher air volume used.

Maine Vent

Riello

I have Riello 40 g200 gas burner in Weil sgo4. I'm in my second winter with it. I have finally got the right orifice in the burner. It is quiet, runs great. European quality, you never here this burner mentioned much. For my set up I am very pleased

Mark N

Conversion

Won't converting your Mega Steam to gas void the warranty? Also how does one quantify how much fuel has been saved by using a drop header instead of a regular header?



Mark

Steamhead

The MegaSteam

is a good enough boiler that I wouldn't worry if Burnham has a hissy fit when we ask about converting one. It should outlast any other residential steamer- unless it dry-fires, in which case no boiler maker's warranty would apply.



The choice of burner is important. I wouldn't consider the Wayne or Midco burners since they can't produce enough static air pressure to properly fire the MegaSteam. Use the Carlin EZ-Gas or the Riello.

bovide_4

burner noise

Steamhead, thanks to you, about 4 years ago my father installed an HB Smith GI series steamer with an EZ Gas burner. He loves it, and drastically cut his gas bill over the Weil Mc Lain EG series he had before. The only problem is that it is LOUD. I have two oil to gas steamer conversions to spec out, and would love to use the same setup, but am inclined to use atmospheric because they are underneath stores and I am worried about noise complaints.

Should I use a different burner? What have been your experiences with the noise output, especially if they had an atmospheric boiler before.

Steamhead

What boilers

are you talking about- make, model etc?

bovide_4

HB Smith

Sorry for the delay.

I am looking at an HB Smith G19HE-S-3

My only apprehension is that there is a store above the basement where the new boiler is to be installed, and I am concerned about noise complaints. They have an oil burner there now, so as long as it's not louder it's ok.

Is the Riello gas burner much quieter than the Carlin?

Steamhead

They'll hear it running

but it shouldn't be that much louder.



Or, you could wait till the Midco radial-flame low-NOx burner goes mainstream. It's much quieter than a flame-retention burner.

bovide_4

in order to

communicate this to the customer, I am thinking about stating in the proposal that this boiler can save roughy 6% on the fuel cost over an atmospheric boiler, but it is slightly louder than an oil burner.

What do you think?

Steamhead

What I'd do

is give them the thermal efficiency of each boiler possibility- gross (DOE) output as a percentage of input. That way they'd know where the numbers come from.