I'm Considering a Thermo Pride OH6 oil furnace, any opinions?

AkBrian · February 2011

Title says it all. There doesn't seem to be much local experience with these units. It's about the right size to replace my retiring 21 year old Yukon furnace. I'm willing to pay more than absolutely necessary for a furnace I can live with for the next 20 years. I'm currently leaning towards a Thermo Pride OH6 with the single stage Riello BF3 and the GE ECM blower. So far locally I've been told to either definitely get the Riello, or the Beckett, depending on who I ask :) .

Here's some relevant facts (probably too many)

Tiny, 1930 Bungalow, (700 sqft) with furnace in a concrete utility basement.

#2 fuel oil, buried tank.

Fairly short double run of 3/8" copper fuel line.

#400 sieve fuel prefilter w/poly bowl (Goldenrod) followed by 15 micron water block, also a Goldenrod.

Short duct runs, 6 to 15 feet long.

Open vent ductless return air (unrestricted air flow from main floor to basement).

Current furnace fired at .75gph with old Beckett, not challenged even at -50F. ~87% efficient.

20-25ft tall stack, single wall 6" stainless inside masonry.

This furnace is available with the following options;

burners;

Riello BF3 single stage

Riello G5D dual stage

Beckett TP2501 F3

Beckett NX-2

Blowers;

Direct Drive

Direct Drive with GE ECM

I'd love to hear any opinions anybody has. It seems really hard to find feed back on these units. Thanks in advance for the input!

Here are some relevant links;

<a href="http://www.thermopride.com/pdf/OH6-8%2011-10.pdf">http://www.thermopride.com/pdf/OH6-8%2011-10.pdf</a>

The gory details;

<a href="http://www.thermopride.com/pdf/PS020002.pdf">http://www.thermopride.com/pdf/PS020002.pdf</a>

<a href="http://www.thermopride.com/pdf/PS020001.pdf">http://www.thermopride.com/pdf/PS020001.pdf</a>

<a href="http://www.thermopride.com/pdf/2%20stage%20io.pdf">http://www.thermopride.com/pdf/2%20stage%20io.pdf</a>

<a href="http://www.thermopride.com/pdf/OH6%20IO%20manual.pdf">http://www.thermopride.com/pdf/OH6%20IO%20manual.pdf</a>

<a href="http://www.thermopride.com/pdf/ECMOptionforOH6Furnace.pdf">http://www.thermopride.com/pdf/ECMOptionforOH6Furnace.pdf</a>

icesailor · February 2011

Furnace replacement/oil tank:

Before you spend money on this furnace replacement, you better look into removing your UST (underground storage tank). In many areas, if you change the burner, to get an inspection and you will be required to change the tank. It's not just State, it's EPA/Federal. If your insurance company knows you have a UST, you will not be covered by insurance.

I don't know what State you live in but in MA, you pretty much must remove them. Where I work, there's a local ordinance that requires that they all be out of the ground in 20 years.

You have made a good choice in a Thermo-pride. I don't install them but I understand that they work well. If you have a "open return" that is just open in the cellar and not physically connected to the upstairs living space, I suggest you get it changed. Why would you want all the dust, mold and debris from the cellar sucked into the furnace and spread into the house. There were some who did this years and years ago as a cheap install, It is very bad practice. And in my opinion, costs you more in fuel cost. You want to reheat the air in the living space. Not mix it with cold air infiltrating into a unheated cellar space,

JMO,

AkBrian · February 2011

re: tank and ductwork.

icesailor,

I'm in Alaska, and underground tanks are still pretty common, and required if you burn #2 fuel oil due to the extreme climate. A double wall tank will probably be in the future, but its not something that could be tackled this time of year anyway. The utility concrete utility basement is heated, and as it has the laundry and all the plumbing it has to be heated. If there was any place to put return ductwork I would do it, but it would have to be where the floor grates are now, this is a really small house. There is nowhere to put return ducting in the walls. There is no real restriction to air flow between the main floor and the basement. Thanks for the input. The reason for the furnace change is that the heat exchanger is beginning to leak a little, and replacements are not available.

icesailor · February 2011

Oil WA Furnace:

What I meant was that the return on the furnace is connected to the floor returns.

Maybe your cellar is too small for an inside tank but warm oil burns a lot more efficiently than cold oil. Depending on how deep the frost goes, will determine the temperature of the oil in the outside tank. The oil could easily approach levels where the pour point comes into play. And because you must be using a two pipe system, the oil coming to the fuel pump must always be cold. Normally, you use the heat of compression in the fuel pump to warm the oil. A tough sell.

You probably want a lot of stored oil and need the larger outside UST. You guys in Alaska are supposed to be quite self sufficient. If it were me, I would try to get a tank on my warm cellar, and use the outside tank as a storage tank. I'd rig up a oil transfer pump using the existing lines and pump fuel from the outside tank as required. That gives you more stored oil, less deliveries.

Some here seem to be making a serious effort to make a nickle defecate 6 pennies. You may have never thought about how much heat is sucked up by the two pipe fuel system that takes very cold oil out of the very cold tank and runs it through the burner pump and back. You would be surprised at how much heat is picked up. And delivered into the tank and lost to the ground. Do you ever see frost or condensate on the oil lines in the house?

AkBrian · February 2011

re: tank location

I have a 500 gallon underground tank, which is about the norm here. I'm not aware of any inside fuel tanks in this area, but I understand they are the norm in the east. The two line setup works fine. The two goldenrod fuel filters, in heating space, do provide some fuel pre-warming. The fuel lines are buried, and the circulating of warmed oil is usually considered a positive here, although I see your point about the heat loss. The open floor vent for return air to the basement isn't ideal, but that's the way it's been for 80 years. The current furnace worked well for 21 years, with only one no-heat failure, a stripped coupler. There are many things that I would do different if I was building the house today, but it is what it is, and has been surprisingly affordable to heat (~400 gallons #2 per year) for a 1930 house in a ~14,000 heating degree day location. I'm most interested in the most desirable options for the proposed furnace. BTW, one of the issues for a return duct is the 6'-6" ceiling height in the basement.

Damon · February 2011

I love my ThermoPride OL5-85 (Beckett)

It's bullet proof.

Robert O'Brien · February 2011

Thermo Pride

TP is by far the best oil furnace made!

AkBrian · February 2011

I considered it.

I did consider that furnace, but it would have been a challenge to make the 90 degree turn from my 32" wide hall onto my 28" wide stairs to the basement. The OH6 is just a whole lot smaller. 20"W x30"L x45"H vs 25"W x 50" L x 43" H

It's funny how on the OL5 the Beckett is about the same efficiency as the Riello, but on the OH6 the Riello does much better (at least on paper).

Thank you for the input.

AkBrian · February 2011

Do the BF3 or NX-2 REQUIRE direct venting?

Probably a stupid question, but there isn't a problem with NOT using direct venting with with a direct vent burner like the BF-3 or the NX-2 is there?

I'm not planning to direct vent this furnace.

-Thanks

I'm Considering a Thermo Pride OH6 oil furnace, any opinions?

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