Need Some Advice on a Vent Damper/Draft Regulator

AdmiralYoda

My steam boiler doesn't have any type of damper or draft regulator on it. I'd like to install something as my basement feels like it is colder than it should be even though I've sealed it up quite a bit.

The chimney is 8"x8" and is 30' tall from where the boiler enters the chimney to the cap. There is a 6" liner that the boiler attaches to.

Would it be worth it to install a barometric or auto damper or even a draft regulator? Would it save me money?

Thanks!

ChrisJ

What type of boiler is it?
Can you post some pictures?

Jamie Hall

An oil burner, I assume?

There are dampers and dampers -- and they don't do the same things at all.

First, there may be a fixed damper in the breeching, usually right near the boiler. If this is present, it should be set in position by whoever adjusts your boiler's burner to get the correct overfire draught condition.

Second, there may also be a barometric damper on the breeching, which allows basement air to get into the stack. This one is an automatic flap thing, with a weight on it. It is used to reduce the effect of the stack draught on the overfire draught, and, again, should be set by whoever adjusts your boiler.

Then, third, some folks have a motorized damper in the breeching, which closes when the burner is turned off and opens when the burner turns on. This last one may be what you are looking for, as it is the only one which reduces the amount of basement air going up the stack when the boiler isn't running.

If so... in my humble opinion, they are a headache and a nuisance, since if they don't work properly the boiler won't fire and you have no heat.

AdmiralYoda

Great comments, thank you! First the boiler is natural gas. It is about 30 years old and is a Peerless G-461-SP-1.

I bought the house about 8 years ago and have no idea what maintenance was done prior to me. Since then a plumbing buddy has come over and done basic maintenance (clean it, adjust things, etc). But no formal inspections.

I know the header is piped wrong...and that's another issue altogether. In the coming few years I will be replacing the boiler anyways and have it re-piped then.

These are the only two pics I have.

ChrisJ

You said the basement is on the chilly side.
How's your steam pressure? If it's on the highside I'd consider removing some insulation to heat the basement. I know others say it's a huge no no, but if you're building too much pressure anyway I'd do it.

Fred

Ugh! to that piping. enough said.

ChrisJ

Fred said:

Ugh! to that piping. enough said.

Be nice!
He said he's aware of the piping and will be fixing it in the future.

UGH to your oversized boiler! Enough said.

Fred

ChrisJ said:

Fred said:

Ugh! to that piping. enough said.

Be nice!
He said he's aware of the piping and will be fixing it in the future.

UGH to your oversized boiler! Enough said.

LOL, I was being nice and I know he is aware! I love my old boiler. The longer we are together, the more I am dreading the day when she passes on to the Steam Gods.

PMJ

Absolutely install an automatic damper on that pipe. Normally it is the single biggest improvement to efficiency you can make and will warm up your basement. A wide open chimney is like a vacuum running every minute your burner isn't on exhausting warm air out of your house and replacing that air with cold air from the outside. And, it is cooling down your boiler between cycles dramatically raising your time to steam on each new firing. I moved into a house with an open pipe like yours and was astounded how much difference it made adding the damper. The only installation note I have is that the farther from the boiler itself the longer it will last. Mine is maybe 6 feet from the boiler and this will be its 24th season coming up.

ChrisJ

PMJ said:

Absolutely install an automatic damper on that pipe. Normally it is the single biggest improvement to efficiency you can make and will warm up your basement. A wide open chimney is like a vacuum running every minute your burner isn't on exhausting warm air out of your house and replacing that air with cold air from the outside. And, it is cooling down your boiler between cycles dramatically raising your time to steam on each new firing. I moved into a house with an open pipe like yours and was astounded how much difference it made adding the damper. The only installation note I have is that the farther from the boiler itself the longer it will last. Mine is maybe 6 feet from the boiler and this will be its 24th season coming up.

That's the other reason I wanted to move mine from the default location of literally sitting on the drafthood. I'm betting it'll last much longer mounted away from the hot boiler.

PMJ

ChrisJ said:

PMJ said:

Absolutely install an automatic damper on that pipe. Normally it is the single biggest improvement to efficiency you can make and will warm up your basement. A wide open chimney is like a vacuum running every minute your burner isn't on exhausting warm air out of your house and replacing that air with cold air from the outside. And, it is cooling down your boiler between cycles dramatically raising your time to steam on each new firing. I moved into a house with an open pipe like yours and was astounded how much difference it made adding the damper. The only installation note I have is that the farther from the boiler itself the longer it will last. Mine is maybe 6 feet from the boiler and this will be its 24th season coming up.

That's the other reason I wanted to move mine from the default location of literally sitting on the drafthood. I'm betting it'll last much longer mounted away from the hot boiler.

The more distance the better - no downside - the power cable is cheap.

I see a lot of photos on this site of boilers with no damper and I'm surprised. Time to steam is critical for efficiency. Once actually steaming boilers are pretty much the same. An open flue increases the time to steam a lot.

Jamie Hall

I quite agree on the efficiency gain of a power damper on the breeching; it's greater, of course, with a tighter basement (the place I care for is anything but). There were ones -- once -- on the boiler and water heater in the place I care for. There wasn't then -- and still isn't -- that much distance between the boiler and the flue; perhaps that was the problem, but I found that the reliability of the damper was less than desirable: it would fail to open about 1 percent of the time, which doesn't sound like much -- but translates to more often than once a week, in colder weather.

I can't afford to have that kind of failure rate. No way. So off they came.

Of course with an oil burner and no draught hood to suck up the basement air, it's much less of a problem, perhaps.

ChrisJ

My damper has never failed to open?

Abracadabra

ChrisJ said:

My damper has never failed to open?

You're lucky. I've seen a few power dampers where the motor failed.

ChrisJ

That I can understand but randomly not opening for no reason?