Condensing Oil boiler...

Solid_Fuel_Man

As propane is quite expensive for most residential consumers, I've been looking to condensing oil boilers. Specifically Firebird as one was mentioned in a previous thread I posted. I have quite a few radiant customers from the mid 1990s who are or will be looking for a boiler upgrade soon. I'm contemplating installing one in my own home as a guinea pig before I begin installing them in the feild.

Anyone have any experience with them? All I can think of is Yukon, and I don't want to be that guy who installs nightmare boilers. Looking to see how well they operated on our oil in the northeast, and what kind of savings if any there are over a 3-pass.


Taylor

brucewayne

lochinvar and slantfin is good. Try a boiler that is made in your country.
And as always, measure edr and heat loss, so there is little or no short cycling.

firebird is made in uk, otherwise its pretty looking. probably good, wait see if someone knows about them. I would just read the manual and dictate if its good.
but i know thats not best.

Bob Bona_4

Not sure if Buderus still makes the G125 Blue flame condenser. That'd be the only one I'd feel better about. Heard last yr Blue Flames are kaput? Got certified about 6 yrs ago to install.

Been thru the Yukon nightmares. Too many times in the early 90s. Yuck

Solid_Fuel_Man

I too heard they are no longer making the blue flame. Not sure why. I'm still curious if anyone can put any real numbers on any savings over a 3 pass.
@brucewayne I've read through the manual and reached out to an instate distributor. I like things that have a track record. They have been condensing in Europe much longer than we Americans have.

Taylor

Bob Bona_4

The demand went way down once oil prices dropped. Nothing technical as far as I've heard, just economic

A.J.

I have a Buderus GB125 90% boiler installed for a customer and it has been working great so far . When the rebates went away and oil prices hit bottom nobody wanted to pay the extra moneys for the efficiency's so they stopped bringing them over the pond . It is a shame too because it is one hell of a boiler

Paul Pollets

Sulphur content is too high in N. American #2 oil to work with condensing oil-fired boilers. Not a good idea.

Sal Santamaura

Solid_Fuel_Man said:

...Looking to see how well they operated on our oil in the northeast...

Paul Pollets said:

Sulphur content is too high in N. American #2 oil to work with condensing oil-fired boilers...

Heating oil sulfur content in the northeast depends on which state and when. See this for details:

https://nefi.com/news/docs/heating-oil-standards-chart.pdf

Jack

I would suggest that your idea to try it at home is sensible. You want all surprises to be close to or in the house. My solution to expensive LP is to buy your own 500 or 1000 gallon tank and control the buys. LP is pricey when the gas company selects the tank and fills it every 3-4 weeks in season

Solid_Fuel_Man

I actually just passed up a 1000 gal tank. Spoke with largest LP supplier and they said no one else could touch their price no matter if it was my tank or theirs. He did tell me that I could have a big enough tank to ride out a winter.... I have known him since we were 3 years old.

It's hard to tell if it really will be worth changing equipment for LP rather than simply stay with oil in the future. The gas equipment has so many advantages over oil as far as I can see.

Taylor

Bob Bona_4

Blue flame really helped. I was almost going to sell Acadia heat pumps at the time as well. Dodged that bullet, whew!

Robert O'Brien

Installed August 2013, no issues. With no tax credits and relatively cheap fuel, interest has collapsed. If I needed to go DV, I would go with a condensing boiler, they are designed from the ground up as a DV, not a chimney vented boiler slathered in RTV.