Oil boiler setting at vocational house at winter

olpert

Get vocational house in PA. Oil boiler with 3 zones, R8182D control. 3 wi-fi thermostats and remote power disconnect switch. Looking most economical way to set boiler control Hi, Lo limits and DHW for winter time if home not occupied for couple weeks. Should I decrease Hi limit? Disable Lo limit? What rooms temperature should I keep?

Appreciate any advice.

Solid_Fuel_Man

A lot depends on the building. I tend to a couple of unoccupied buildings in the winter. I find 52 is a safe temp for one and 55 for the other. It's a balance of economy and how much time you have if the boiler goes out on flame failure. Both places have baseboard and average insulation. I set the high limit on 160 which seems adaquite yo maintain those temps. One place (for sale) I turned off the indirect zone and valved it out. Both places I turn off the domestic water to the building. I stop by a couple times a month when passing by and check on system pressure and general health of the building. The one I keep warmer is just further away.

As a fail safe, I keep a red light in the window on a thermostat set to 45 degrees. I have the neighbors call if they ever see it on. The wi-fi thermostats would do that for you in theory.

If you set the hi limit too low you may have a hard time coming out of setback when you expect people. All depends on what type and how much radiation you have. These houses are generally over-radiated with full perimeter baseboard so I can safely get away with the lower operating temp but not risk condensing.

Jamie Hall

I hold the unoccupied house care for at 55. Drain all the domestic plumbing, though. The boiler in that is old -- to put it charitably -- so I just leave its set points alone.

A word about wi-fi thermostats and hoping they will tell you if there is a problem. Maybe. If the problem is with the boiler, yes. If the problem is a power failure, which is more likely, no. In my humble opinion, if you are a responsible building caretaker, there is no substitute for dropping by the properties you care for once a day in colder weather, to be sure they are safe and all is well. It's part of the job. You can have remote sensors and neighbours and so on -- but if a pipe bursts because a window broke and the word doesn't get to you for some reason, it's still your puppy and you are responsible for it.

Steamhead

Does the boiler have a coil that heats the hot faucet water?

olpert

Steamhead:

Yes, boiler has a coil for domestic hot water.