What are my gauges? New renter to oil heating please help me out :)

EveGoose

Hello,
I am renting a place in Rhode Island that has an oil boiler system. I've done some research on these sorts of systems, but have a few unresolved questions (photos in post):
1. Why is there only one temperature control on my system? What is it? I've read about low and high set points, and expected to see controls for both. What should I set it to for heating efficiency? It's currently at 160, but I've heard that higher temperatures can be more efficient.
2. What is the "cut in" control do?

I know there are resources out there but I am struggling to confidentially apply it to the system I have. Not planning to touch things unless I'm confident, just like to understand the house I'm living in .

Thanks!

EveGoose

Also, if anyone has recommendations on where to get oil or if you have a preference for certain plans/services, I would love to hear them. I'm in Providence.

I'm young and don't have a ton of savings around, so have thought about some of the plans that lock in a price or at least cap it.

Currently a little below 3/4 of a tank (250 gallon).

leonz

Don't touch anything, you do not need to do anything.

As you are a renter, your landlord is responsible for
"maintaining" the heating system of your home not you.

If you want to learn more about steam heating wander
over to the Heating Help Bookstore and purchase the
following paperbacks from Mr. Holohan.

1. WE GOT STEAM HEAT

2. THE LOST ART OF STEAM HEATING

3. GREENING STEAM

These three paperback books written by Mr. Holohan will
provide you with a vast amount of knowledge regarding
steam heat in general.

Mr. Holohan has written these excellent books making them
easy for the layperson(you) and the master plumber to understand
with precise easy to understand explanations of how steam heating works.

Mr. Holohan makes his reading fun and provides many stories about his
work in the plumbing and heating business.

You can purchase these paperback books safely with a credit or debit card and
they will ship them to you directly eliminating the middleman and all profits
go to the author.

Now all you have to do is sit back and read these books and you will be able
to identify everything on your steam system and be comfortable about discussing it.


About your oil needs, you should ask your landlord who he buys his oil from.

EBEBRATT-Ed

Look in the glass sight tube. The water level should be at around 1/2 a glass full or where the black indicator is. I cant tell from the picture if you have water in the boiler or not. Are you getting domestic hot water? The reason I asked is because your boiler also heats the water.

If you need to add water looking at your 2d picture when you are facing the front of the boiler there is a ball valve with a white handle on the right side of the boiler at about eye level that the handle is turned cross ways to the pipe. When you turn the handle parallel with the pipe you should here water entering the boiler and the water level in the glass tube (gauge glass) will go up.

Make sure to shut the valve when done (handle cross ways to the pipe.


If that doesn't get you going check your thermostat to be sure it is set above the room temperature. Some thermostats have batteries in them your batteries could be dead as well.

If those two thing don't work call for service.

You can try "find a contractor" on this site.

You also posted your location someone may reply here with a recommendation.

bburd

The gray box that says "cut in" at the top of the scale is the pressuretrol. This limits the steam pressure to that needed to heat your radiators:  less than two psi. It appears to be correctly set, so leave it alone. If you ever notice a pressure higher than two psi on the 0 to 30 steam pressure gauge, call for service. Higher pressure causes problems.

The gray box set to 160 is the aquastat. In addition to heating your radiators, that boiler heats the tapwater for your faucets. The aquastat maintains a minimum temperature in the boiler regardless of the demand for space heating so you will have hot tap water when needed. It should be set at the lowest temperature that gives you adequate hot tapwater. Higher is NOT more efficient. 

The valve with three connections and the black cap below the aquastat is the tempering valve. This mixes the very hot water from the boiler with cold water to provide a safe temperature for your faucets. This is required to prevent scalding.

HVACNUT

Sunray FC134 burner. Haven't seen one in over 20 years.
The scorch marks around the front plate should be addressed. 

Steamhead

HVACNUT said:

Sunray FC134 burner. Haven't seen one in over 20 years.
The scorch marks around the front plate should be addressed. 

I think I have the manual for that burner if someone needs it. Those Sunrays were nice burners.

leonz

I don't see a domestic coil hook up on this boiler.

Is there a plate heat exchanger connected to the propressed copper lines used on this system??

The people that service this steam boiler are DUPUIS OIL 401-772-0080
You need to ask your landlord when the burner was serviced last and look in your rental agreement to see if you are responsible for the maintenance of the boiler(you depend on the landlord for heat).

bburd

@leonz The domestic hot water coil is on the front of the boiler, above the oil burner, to the left of the red emergency switch.

leonz

I see it now with all the clutter.

bburd

@EveGoose You're welcome. 

EveGoose

Thanks so much everyone for the information! It is helpful to understand the system more. Sorry for the delay I was busy and did not get any notifications for some reason.

And I don't plan on touching anything per people's comments, since posting this I've gotten the landlord to have someone come out and service / inspect the unit. The last tag was from 2016 and they did not have any records to show me, so it was concerning. I just like to know what is happening in my (current) home and to keep an eye on it

EveGoose

EBEBRATT-Ed said:

Look in the glass sight tube. The water level should be at around 1/2 a glass full or where the black indicator is. I cant tell from the picture if you have water in the boiler or not. Are you getting domestic hot water? The reason I asked is because your boiler also heats the water. If you need to add water looking at your 2d picture when you are facing the front of the boiler there is a ball valve with a white handle on the right side of the boiler at about eye level that the handle is turned cross ways to the pipe. When you turn the handle parallel with the pipe you should here water entering the boiler and the water level in the glass tube (gauge glass) will go up. Make sure to shut the valve when done (handle cross ways to the pipe. If that doesn't get you going check your thermostat to be sure it is set above the room temperature. Some thermostats have batteries in them your batteries could be dead as well. If those two thing don't work call for service. You can try "find a contractor" on this site. You also posted your location someone may reply here with a recommendation.

Thanks for the information on the water level. There is water in the boiler and I do get my hot water from it.

EveGoose

bburd said:

The gray box that says "cut in" at the top of the scale is the pressuretrol. This limits the steam pressure to that needed to heat your radiators:  less than two psi. It appears to be correctly set, so leave it alone. If you ever notice a pressure higher than two psi on the 0 to 30 steam pressure gauge, call for service. Higher pressure causes problems.

The gray box set to 160 is the aquastat. In addition to heating your radiators, that boiler heats the tapwater for your faucets. The aquastat maintains a minimum temperature in the boiler regardless of the demand for space heating so you will have hot tap water when needed. It should be set at the lowest temperature that gives you adequate hot tapwater. Higher is NOT more efficient. 

The valve with three connections and the black cap below the aquastat is the tempering valve. This mixes the very hot water from the boiler with cold water to provide a safe temperature for your faucets. This is required to prevent scalding.

Appreciate the information on the controls! Will not touch them but can make sure to keep an eye on things.

EveGoose

@Steamhead You have a digital copy / scan? I would be curious

HVACNUT

@EveGoose, inform the landlord of the scorch marks on the front of the boiler. That is a leak to the combustion chamber and an uncontrollable source of air making clean combustion difficult. 
Also, on the right side where the oil company sticker is, is a removable door to access the clean outs for the boiler. Make sure the clean out plates have gasket material and secured with nuts and not just being held in place with cement.
You'll also want a copy of the combustion report. Especially if you're paying for the oil.
Where is the oil tank?

EveGoose

HVACNUT said:

@EveGoose, inform the landlord of the scorch marks on the front of the boiler. That is a leak to the combustion chamber and an uncontrollable source of air making clean combustion difficult. 
Also, on the right side where the oil company sticker is, is a removable door to access the clean outs for the boiler. Make sure the clean out plates have gasket material and secured with nuts and not just being held in place with cement.
You'll also want a copy of the combustion report. Especially if you're paying for the oil.
Where is the oil tank?

Thanks for all the help. I will definitely make sure to ask about the combustion report. I'm a little irritated as I initially asked for that and also to be present at the service / inspection, but the landlord never followed up with any of that information.

A couple questions / responses:

1. Concerning the scorch marks, when you say leak to the combustion chamber, do you mean air leaking in from the front? I can see quite a bit of the glow of the flame when the burner is on, I don't know if that's normal. I know that there was a professional service performed, so I would hope that would have been addressed for moving forward.
   
2. The side panels themselves are screwed in. I don't see gaskets, are you referring to plates internally that would necessitate taking the panels off?
   
3. The oil boiler is across the room with a line running under the floor. Photos below.
   

Jamie Hall

The scorch marks on the front are anything but normal. They indicate that at some point in that poor boiler's life the front wasn't mounted properly and combustion gas (fancy term for "flame') could escape. Now. They could be old. They might not be. That joint between the burner support and the boiler needs to be professionally examined and repaired (it can be) if needed. Which it probably does, since you mention seeing a glow... and I don't see an inspection port.

And with regard to the side panels. They are just decorative. When they are taken off, they allow access to plates between the sections of the boiler which can be removed and then allow the boiler to be properly cleaned.

jesmed1

EveGoose said:

Also, if anyone has recommendations on where to get oil or if you have a preference for certain plans/services, I would love to hear them. I'm in Providence.

I suggest joining the Green Energy Consumers Alliance. For a $25/yr membership fee, you'll get a pre-negotiated oil price from a reputable local oil company in Providence. Our condo association here in the Boston area joined Green Energy 2 years ago and have been happy with our savings on oil costs. Our oil company is a full-service company that services our boilers each fall and does good work for us. Green Energy should have a relationship with a number of such oil companies in Providence.

https://www.greenenergyconsumers.org/heatingoil

The way it works is that you don't get a locked-in contract price for the season. Instead, you pay whatever the dealers' wholesale cost is that day, plus a fixed amount of markup. Because Green Energy limits the markup that the dealer can charge you, you get a lower price than the dealer is charging the rest of his/her customers.

I prefer this arrangement over a locked-in fixed price for the season, because that fixed price invariably includes enough margin for the oil dealer to make a profit even when wholesale prices go up. Over the last couple of seasons, we've saved a good chunk of cash by taking the Green Energy daily rate instead of a fixed contract price directly from the oil company. For example, our oil company offered us a contract price of $4.30/gal this season. We chose instead to stay with the Green Energy daily rate, which is currently $3.85/gal from the same oil company.

RTW

Hi there: I have the same boiler in your photos and its an American Standard that was installed in the early 1960's. Its used for steam heating only and I have a separate Hot Water Heater. I believe the experts have given you sound advice ( Im just a well informed homeowner that uses this site). My pressuretrol is the same and set the same lowest setting, my temp setting gauge is the same set at 160 too. Recent service thats done every year involves: 1) Vacuming out soot after removing side panel 2) checking and cleaning out any soot built up behind where exhaust enters into chimney 3) checking that McDonnel-Miller low water cut off ( it says to drain out some water 1x each month until it runs clean on label 4) swapping out the Nosel that projects the flame into boiler every other year using .75 which I believe in referenced on the Plate on boiler 5) replacing the oil filter at the oil tank - recommended 2x per year 6) making sure the pigtail under pressuretrol is clear, and 6) lastly, I suggest adding make up water to boiler very SLOWLY and a little at a time at the level half way up sight glass as recommended. Note: I like that the oil tank has the spout underneath like mine and the feed line is above ground in covered copper Not buried under the concrete.