Firing oil boiler... questions on efficiency

I have a delavan book on oil nozzles that shows if you increase the pump pressure from 100 psi (standard) to 145 psi, a 1.25 gph nozzle can be reduced to 1.0 gph and the fuel will be atomized better by decreasing the droplet size. Beckett burners should be able to handle 140 psi with no problems, My riello runs at 150 psi. You will need to verify your nozzle size and spray angle to reduce it to a smaller one. I will try and post the chart.
George

Here's the Delevan info online...is this what you were referring to?

http://www.delavaninc.com/pdf/total_look.pdf

His New Yorker most likely runs 140 PSI from the factory & has a 1gph @ 100psi nozzle = ~1.2gph. The published efficiency is 86.7% - I wonder what the boiler is really doing & what his stack temp is.

I just noticed my combustion test kit also works for coal - now I'm going to have to figure out how to get a temp reading off my exisiting exhaust thermocouple.

Have u tried putting plastic on the windows and insulating the attic. These are inexpensive remedies that may help to keep your house warmer. It made a huge difference in my home. I also blew insulation in for one attic with a machine I rented cheaply and laid heavy rolled insulation in the other attic. Also a fan in the room will help circulate the heat and a blower on your insert would be beneficial too.

Interesting that the published EFF is 86.7, after the furnace man cleaned the boiler, he placed a little 'receipt-like' piece of paper on the boiler with the results of his testing. The 86.7 is what was listed after the EFF. I'll have to grab the paper and type the data in word for word and then maybe you can better assess what is happening.

I put plastic on many of the windows, ram that pliable weatherstripping around the other windows - that actually works really well - and the attic has a very old blown insulation under the floor boards. The blower on the insert works really well - it's a must really. It's an Osburn 1800i - the unit does a great job offsetting fuel costs.

Wanted to give an update... I took u232's advice and turn the valves on the rads in the dining room (with the thermostat) and it has worked beautifully! It takes longer for that room to heat up, thus the rest of the house gets a bit more heat. I've been keeping the thermostat at 69 during the day - it's 76 or so in the living room and about 68 in the kitchen (the dining room is sandwiched between the living room and the kitchen). The I have the thermostat drop down to 65 at 9pm for night time. At 5am, when I get up, the thermostat returns to 69 for the rest of the day. We've had a crazy winter so far... so my oil consumption is fairly low. Before wood, I was burning 1100 gallons a year. I have burned maybe 80 gallons since Oct 29. I'm happy!

Thanks for the advice fellas. I think what I was doing initially was the right idea, just the wrong way to get the boiler to fire longer.

Take care everyone