New Oil Condensing Units

GBart

I'm just curious how the new oil condensing units are fairing out. My own experience with them isn't good and when they ran poorly and gooped up with soot slime molasses it wasn't any fun. Are you finding the latest generation better? Avoiding them?

EBEBRATT-Ed

I haven't worked on any but the only news I have herd is bad news. Our company installed a few Adams furnaces and they were ripped out in a year or two. I want nothing to do with them

Grallert

I've installed a few Buderus condensing oil boilers, this was a number of years ago. Apparently they are no longer imported. These were trouble free for the most part though I did have an issue with a flue temp limit switch. Folks had a hard time with them for some reason.

captainco

In the 80's when the 1st condensing oil furnaces came out I realized if you don't measure CO Lighting-Running-Shutting Down, they could soot up very quickly after setting them for 0 Smoke only!! Then I had to go against manufacturers recommendations to get them to work. The manufacturer called me after a year and wanted to know why I wasn't calling them with problems.

STEVEusaPA

captainco said:

In the 80's when the 1st condensing oil furnaces came out I realized if you don't measure CO Lighting-Running-Shutting Down, they could soot up very quickly after setting them for 0 Smoke only!! Then I had to go against manufacturers recommendations to get them to work. The manufacturer called me after a year and wanted to know why I wasn't calling them with problems.

Seems like some better controls that monitor flame/adjust air would help.

Robert O'Brien

Have done a couple Firebird boilers. No problems

GBart

We had one of those Peerless downfire condensing at a school and no one could ever get it running right.

gerry3

New fuel is much cleaner now I think you will see some more technology going this way, Europe has very refined fuel that get away with much more. Have you checked out the new low mass boilers like ek1 from energy kinetic

GBart

yeah lower sulfur is going to help, I have not seen the energy kinetics condensing run but I'm very familiar with them, the company I worked for was the first in Ct to ever install them when they first started

SuperTech

> @gerry3 said:
> New fuel is much cleaner now I think you will see some more technology going this way, Europe has very refined fuel that get away with much more. Have you checked out the new low mass boilers like ek1 from energy kinetic

Energy kinetics has a new condensing oil fired boiler? Is this available commercially or residentially? I'm going to have to look into this, as EK is a manufacturer I have always liked. Maybe I'll have to check the website...

GBart

Our bad, it's a 90+ NON condensing, not sure how that is accomplished

https://energykinetics.com/wp-content/documents/resolute/resolute-oil-spec-sheet.pdf

captainco

The latent heat value of oil is 8% to 12%. This is direct loss if you don't condense. Every 1% of O2 in the flue gas is another 1% efficiency loss. Every 40 degrees the flue temperature is above combustion air temperature you lose another 1% efficiency.

Can you get 90&+ without condensing? NO!

STEVEusaPA

I think EK is going with total system efficiency, not just burn efficiency.

captainco

90% of 90% = 81%

GBart

EK says it's 90.7% AFUE, so maybe borderline condensing, be interesting to see a combustion analysis and stack temp

captainco

Unless the return water temperature is below 130 degrees it cannot condense. The flue temperature would have to be the same or higher than the water temperature, preferably higher.