Why is the damper on your oil boiler partially open???????Rob R. wrote:I am claiming victory over the first round with old man winter. Last night around 7 pm was brutal, I think the stoker ran continuously for an hour, and then began to occasionally shut off. The wind gradually died down overnight. My porch thermometer showed -5 last night, and still does this morning...but with no wind this morning the boiler is hardly running.
It's Alive!
- Scottscoaled
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- Stoker Coal Boiler: EFM 520, 700, Van Wert 800 GJ 61,53
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- Coal Size/Type: Lots of buck
- Other Heating: Slant Fin electric boiler backup
- Scottscoaled
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- Joined: Tue. Jan. 08, 2008 9:51 pm
- Location: Malta N.Y.
- Stoker Coal Boiler: EFM 520, 700, Van Wert 800 GJ 61,53
- Baseburners & Antiques: Magic Stewart 16, times 2!
- Coal Size/Type: Lots of buck
- Other Heating: Slant Fin electric boiler backup
That's heat going up the chimney!!!!
- Rob R.
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I haven't decided if I will remove the flue pipe from the oil boiler and disable it, or leave it in its current state of automatic backup. I have removed the flue pipe before and not observed any significant savings, and the one time I needed the automatic backup I was glad to have it.
- Scottscoaled
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- Location: Malta N.Y.
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- Baseburners & Antiques: Magic Stewart 16, times 2!
- Coal Size/Type: Lots of buck
- Other Heating: Slant Fin electric boiler backup
Stick your hand in there and feel the heat blowing by. Might change your mind.
- Rob R.
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Just did - all I could feel was room temperature air being drawn in, but your point is taken. I will cover the baro.Scottscoaled wrote:Stick your hand in there and feel the heat blowing by. Might change your mind.
- Scottscoaled
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- Stoker Coal Boiler: EFM 520, 700, Van Wert 800 GJ 61,53
- Baseburners & Antiques: Magic Stewart 16, times 2!
- Coal Size/Type: Lots of buck
- Other Heating: Slant Fin electric boiler backup
When my coal boiler was hooked up in series with my oil boiler, you could feel the draft thru the oil boiler robbing the heat out of the oil boiler. The oil boiler would start drawing draft then the baro would open. When I stuck my arm down in the exhaust pipe leading to the oil boiler, I could feel the 180 degree heat rising up thru the stack. What else would make the baro open? It all ready has lost enough heat thru the chimney to pull a draft. Covering the baro might make it worse in my opinion.
- Rob R.
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You probably had a Beckett burner. My Riello has a damper that closes and prevents air from being drawn through the boiler.
I will remove the flue pipe and block the thimble, and will compare the coal consumption vs degree days over the next month.
I will remove the flue pipe and block the thimble, and will compare the coal consumption vs degree days over the next month.
- Scottscoaled
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- Location: Malta N.Y.
- Stoker Coal Boiler: EFM 520, 700, Van Wert 800 GJ 61,53
- Baseburners & Antiques: Magic Stewart 16, times 2!
- Coal Size/Type: Lots of buck
- Other Heating: Slant Fin electric boiler backup
You're right. It was a Becket burner. But what is causing you to draw draft?
- Rob R.
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Wicked winds over the roof peak. It happens even if the boiler is stone cold.Scottscoaled wrote:You're right. It was a Becket burner. But what is causing you to draw draft?
- Scottscoaled
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- Location: Malta N.Y.
- Stoker Coal Boiler: EFM 520, 700, Van Wert 800 GJ 61,53
- Baseburners & Antiques: Magic Stewart 16, times 2!
- Coal Size/Type: Lots of buck
- Other Heating: Slant Fin electric boiler backup
Guess there's no need to disconnect the exhaust and do a study if there is no draft coming thru the oil boiler.
- Rob R.
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From 10-29-16 to 12-17-16 I averaged .82 lbs of coal per degree day, and that was with the heat pump helping through November.Rob R. wrote:
I will remove the flue pipe and block the thimble, and will compare the coal consumption vs degree days over the next month.
From 12-17-16 to 1-19-17 I averaged .78 lbs of coal per degree day, without the heat pump.
This tells me two things.
1. The efficiency of the coal heating system improves as the weather gets colder and there are fewer times when the entire system has to get heated up just to add a little heat to the living space - that was my reasoning for using the heat pump back in the fall.
2. Unhooking the flue pipe from the oil boiler seems to have little to no effect on the amount of coal I burn. Or, the effect is less than the efficiency improvement that comes with the colder weather and longer run times of the boiler.
I have decided to hook the flue pipe back up to the oil boiler and put it back into "ready for action" mode.
- Rob R.
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Done...did not seem to change anything. I suspect there are other variables that probably make more of a difference than what I am trying to measure.Lightning wrote:So now that's it's hooked back up you should do another comparison to prove that the efficiency didn't change
- Rob R.
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One of the good things about getting a new computer is it gives you an opportunity to look through your old files before migrating them over. In that process I found some more pictures of my EFM install that never made it in this thread.
For those that do not remember, I started out with a hand-fed boiler that cracked in December of 2010. I ordered a used EFM DF520 from Dave O'Neil, and he brought it a few weeks later. The wind chill was about -15 the day he came, and we were able to remove the old boiler, put the EFM in the basement, and mount the EFM on the base without any issues. Over the next two weeks I worked on it after work, and got it ready to fire on a morning that happened to be 22 below zero. 6 years later it is still running great, and it has gained a set of insulated jackets, stainless auger tubes, and improved controls.
For those that do not remember, I started out with a hand-fed boiler that cracked in December of 2010. I ordered a used EFM DF520 from Dave O'Neil, and he brought it a few weeks later. The wind chill was about -15 the day he came, and we were able to remove the old boiler, put the EFM in the basement, and mount the EFM on the base without any issues. Over the next two weeks I worked on it after work, and got it ready to fire on a morning that happened to be 22 below zero. 6 years later it is still running great, and it has gained a set of insulated jackets, stainless auger tubes, and improved controls.
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Rob, is the old wood boiler a marathon heater (logwood) boiler? Looks identical to my old unit. mine was the bigger of the two sizes they made, and they are still made about 15 miles from my house.