Best Oil Burner ?

Josh M.

Weishoupt...Weishoupt...Weishoupt! The W burner is definitly the finest residential oil burner on the planet. I am a combustion guy.. It is my job to know all about it. Have you ever seen a blue flame on an oil fire? You get 10:1 turndown (modulates between 40,000 btu and 200,000 btu) and you get parralel positioning control instead of linkage. Plus it looks real cool!

Liberal Lenny

What is the Best?

Oil Burners what is the best, why is Riello better then Beckett or Carlin or vice virsa. In what situation would you recommend a Riello or Beckett, I like carlin but i wonder why. Thanks in advance.

Cosmo_3

The best burner is....

The one that best fits the application.

When I have a choice, I like the Riello. Tried, and proven design. However I have not yet had a chance to work on the new Beckett low NOx line of burners.

But do not count out the Carlin EZ-1, have a few on Crown boilers and work fine.

That being said, the best residential burner I have ever had the extreme pleasure to get my hands on are the Viessmann chassis burners up in the Rhode Island factory training center. Easiest burner ever to work on.

Cosmo Valavanis

Dependable P.H.C. Inc.

Ken_8

It also depends on the application...

If you're in the .5 to 2 GPH burner size, their all fine choices. If however you're in the 2-5 GPH range, an entirely different control and chassis configuration is required. If in the 5 GPH and over league, IC, Power Flame, Webster, Gordon Piatt, etc. may have a leg up.

Dual fuel? Gas power burners? Too many choices for blanket recommendations. We have had great results from Beckett commercial burners. The Riello commercial units would be our last choice.

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J.C.A._3

I like Ken's thinking.

It totally depends on the situation, and more importantly....PARTS availability and technician competency.

I think all manufacturers make a great product, and I'm lucky to live in an area where I can access parts for all within an hour,usually. However, having listened to customer complaints with different burners , in different situations...I tend to asess them as such.

In a center chimney, with one burner you may not even hear it running. Having the same burner in an outside chimney can produce extremely different sounds.

I would like to think that I've seen the best and worst of different situations, and am competent enough to recommend the right burner for the customer needs.

Like Ken, I find different burners work well at different firing rates in like equipment. The key is to be able to make the best decision for each, and that only comes with experience,not with what the manufacturer sells as a "package".Take their recommendations, but be able to figure what the alternatives will offer for each.

For instance....In my parents home, I have to walk up to the "red" burner, while in the basement to see if it is running. Lo and behold...while sitting in the living room where it goes through the flue, there is absolutly NO DOUBT.
I'm working on it!

As a side note....It has been in the boiler since I installed it in 1997, and I've brought the vacuum in 1 time since, to service the flue piping only. I can still see rust marks from the "seasoning" of the sections at the makers facility.

Not the best choice for being quiet, but it has perfomed flawlessly since it went in, with bi-annual service, and triple filtration.

The choice should be left up to the installer. Hopefully, he'll be able to recommend the best for your particular scenerio. Chris

Josh M.

Weishoupt...Weishoupt...Weishoupt! The W burner is definitly the finest residential oil burner on the planet. I am a combustion guy.. It is my job to know all about it. Have you ever seen a blue flame on an oil fire? You get 10:1 turndown (modulates between 40,000 btu and 200,000 btu) and you get parralel positioning control instead of linkage. Plus it looks real cool!

J.C.A._3

So Josh,

How many "modulating"residential oil boilers are YOU seeing on the American market?

How many boilers are oversized at 40,000 btu to begin with?The fuel quality that we are dealing with will not continuously and reliably support such low firing rates at this point. Better thing are coming, hopefully, but at this point it's a pipe dream. The regulators are fighting the cleaner fuel because it will cut into the oil refiners bottom line, thus their own holdings at this point.(politics stinks in more ways than one!)

The questions are many, the answers for oil are few. Ask Constantin how many discussions were held about this problem at Brookhaven in May.Low firing rates require clean and sulfer free fuel, and that don't seem to be happening anytime soon. Chris (BTW, 200,000-40,000 is a 5:1 turndown)

Josh M.

J.C.A.

Lets be clear. Weishoupt is not a boiler. It is a burner. You can get a mounting plate for any boiler that you want to use. I am familiar with only two modulating oil burners in the residential market. I primarily work on boilers above 50 million btu. The other manufacturer that makes a modulating oil burner that I am familiar with is North American. Modulating oil burners are so simple and with linkageless controls that are priced into the residential market I am surprised that the residential burner companys aren't all over it.

J.C.A._3

Josh,

I wasn't inquiring about the quality of the burner, hell, I've been seeing Wieshaupt burners for quite a while but in the residential settings most speak of here, they are few and far between.

The firing rates are what I was refering to. Most residential boilers of the oil persuasion are grossly oversized because of a burners inability to handle a low firing rate.

Modulating on residential oil systems at the current time is but a dream .There ARE a few HIGH/LOW burners on the market,they're just too darn big! Most new homes don't need the btu's that they are getting now! The problem is that the equipment(boilers) themselves are so oversized that the burners HAVE to fire at above .5 gph,(roughly 60,00btu's) just to stay running consistantly.

Wieshaupt makes a fine product, don't get me wrong....but the problem to me is the boilers. They can't handle the low firing rates available without self distructing yet,because of the fuel that is available.

A burners ability is only as good as the boilers ability to use it to its fullest potential. Chris

Ken_8

Absolutely ..

Correct Chris.

I have a dozen P/F HTD with 12:1 using Honeywell's 7999 controller and proportional modulation on cast iron steam boilers. But they are 60 HP or there abouts.

I still have one "Ray" burner, rotary cup. It's on the oldest W/M 92 I ever saw.

I use an Arkansas stone on the cup lip to keep it like a razor. A trace of smoke on # 4 oil. Cool stuff.

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