New Steam Boiler Installation

ostneb

Hi All,

Been on the forums for about a year before my steam boiler started leaking. Just wanted to share my new installation with everyone. I was a bit oversized before and was surprised to find my boiler went from running about 4-5 hours a day to 8-10 hours a day during the coldest days this past winter! Did see my heating bill go up a little but I also increased my set temp by a few degrees as well.

Went from a Peerless to a WM-EG30.

Jamie Hall

Very nice!

EdTheHeaterMan

The TAG on the relief valve is bent. Other than that... It's fine.
Edit: The document holder is a nice touch. Like the doctor can review the chart before conferring with the patient.

ethicalpaul

that's interesting about the run time. I would expect no real difference in run time, but just a difference in number of cycles (it should have gone down with the new smaller boiler).

I suspect the increased run time was due to observer bias (nothing personal, we all have it) or a colder/windier winter requiring more run time.

For a real comparison, you'd have to look at degree days vs fuel usage (not cost which can vary) for the two years to compare

ostneb

EdTheHeaterMan said:

The TAG on the relief valve is bent. Other than that... It's fine.
Edit: The document holder is a nice touch. Like the doctor can review the chart before the conferring with the patient.

I'll make sure I get on that!

ethicalpaul said:

that's interesting about the run time. I would expect no real difference in run time, but just a difference in number of cycles (it should have gone down with the new smaller boiler).

I suspect the increased run time was due to observer bias (nothing personal, we all have it) or a colder/windier winter requiring more run time.

For a real comparison, you'd have to look at degree days vs fuel usage (not cost which can vary) for the two years to compare

Yea, I wish I had better records of everything, Nest is not suited for this task, sadly.

I did notice that the new boiler takes a long time to head up the radiators (~30 minutes or so) once it kicks on, the old one heated much faster. With that said, the old one would cycle on and off a lot more whereas the new once pretty much stays on the entire time until the temperature cut off is reached by the thermostat. I thought this was a contributor to the longer run times.

Snowmelt

How high are those risers,? I like the pre made pig tail at the pressure troll

Steamhead

Looks like one of @New England SteamWorks ' jobs..............

gerry gill

I like it! Good job.

Ironman

A boiler that’s properly sized will have longer run times and be more efficient than one that’s oversized.

Just like gasoline, the cost of natural gas and propane has increased substantially from the previous year. Therefore, you can’t use the $$ amount of fuel as a valid comparison.

MaxMercy

Ironman said:

Just like gasoline, the cost of natural gas and propane has increased substantially from the previous year. Therefore, you can’t use the $$ amount of fuel as a valid comparison.

I reread the OP and he did indeed say his heating "bill" went up a little. Not sure if he meant fuel usage or cost - maybe he'll clarify. I always monitor my oil usage.

He also said he upped his set temp so that would also affect his heating costs.

ethicalpaul

Not to mention the weather. Also for clarification, I meant the overall run-time should be similar (including pressure cycles)...A larger boiler is pushing more BTU into the boiler water, but there is also a larger quantity of water and iron to heat up so it's difficult to make a direct comparison.

SteamingatMohawk

What were the steam capacities on the old one compared to the new one?

SteamingatMohawk

Is your timing during recovery from a setback?

SteamingatMohawk

That arrangement is what HH guys dream about.

AdmiralYoda

I've been working with New England Steamworks on a quote to replace my old oversized Peerless. They quoted me this exact setup. Just trying to think if I should just do it....or wait until my 40 year old poorly piped boiler quits.

ostneb

Snowmelt said:

How high are those risers,? I like the pre made pig tail at the pressure troll

I believe they were 30" risers.

Ironman said:

A boiler that’s properly sized will have longer run times and be more efficient than one that’s oversized.

Just like gasoline, the cost of natural gas and propane has increased substantially from the previous year. Therefore, you can’t use the $$ amount of fuel as a valid comparison.

MaxMercy said:

Ironman said:

Just like gasoline, the cost of natural gas and propane has increased substantially from the previous year. Therefore, you can’t use the $$ amount of fuel as a valid comparison.

I reread the OP and he did indeed say his heating "bill" went up a little. Not sure if he meant fuel usage or cost - maybe he'll clarify. I always monitor my oil usage.

He also said he upped his set temp so that would also affect his heating costs.

These are the therms i've used along with avg temps. The yellow highlight is when the new boiler was installed. I do not have a setback.

I'm providing just in case people are interested, i've accepted the increased costs.

I was never able to find out what the specs of my old boiler were, it was a Peerless with 6 blocks in back.

Thanks everyone!

JakeCK

Believe it or not that increased usage could easily be accounted for by the increased setpoint and colder winter. Do you the number of days each cycle is?

BobC

The only way to compare months is to know the degree days of each month. This is a site I've used to get that information -

https://www.degreedays.net/

You enter your weather station ID, the inside temp set point, the frequency (daily, monthly,etc) and period of time you want to cover. It will crunch the data and give you a CSV file you can open in your spreadsheet program.



Easy to use and free as is my Libre Office

Bob