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Shiny new boiler

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ACman

Got to say that’s a very nice clean install :greetings-clappingyellow: Don’t see many fuel oil burners being put in around these parts anymore.

 

 I’m glad though that I didn’t have to lug that boiler around my back hurts just looking at it .

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Sarge

The modern heat pump/chiller systems will some day make those old units obsolete - but in the mean time in some areas of the country fuel oil is all they have as a resource , glad I don't have the expense of the fuel here . The last episode of Ask This Old House - their Future Home block featured a pretty cool commercial chiller system that just basically recovers heat and uses it later via some underground tanks - that house is totally off the grid as well and being at 6800sq/ft it was pretty impressive . I am pretty impressed with the specs on some of the newer boiler systems and their efficiency - compared to not too long ago they are amazing .

 

The original Federal boiler that heated this huge old brick building I live in weighed over a ton at the scrap yard - it nearly broke my old little utility trailer by the time I got it there and no idea how those tires survived . I only built the trailer to handle about a 1,200lb load total...lol .

 

Sarge

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DennisThornton

Ain't that pretty picture! Work of art! 

I sell heat but I don't install.  Always nice to see the end result done well! 

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cleat

Looks great.

 

I had to get rid of my oil furnaces in both the house and shop as no insurance companies around here

will take on oil any more for fear of leaks.

 

Even brand new double wall stainless tanks do not make them happy.

 

 

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tunahead72
11 hours ago, cleat said:

... I had to get rid of my oil furnaces in both the house and shop as no insurance companies around here

will take on oil any more for fear of leaks.

 

Even brand new double wall stainless tanks do not make them happy.

 

I'm no expert, but what about Roth tanks (inner polyethylene shell, galvanized steel outer shell, 30-year warranty, $2 million clean-up policy)?

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squonk
On November 5, 2017 at 10:29 AM, Sarge said:

The modern heat pump/chiller systems will some day make those old units obsolete - but in the mean time in some areas of the country fuel oil is all they have as a resource , glad I don't have the expense of the fuel here . The last episode of Ask This Old House - their Future Home block featured a pretty cool commercial chiller system that just basically recovers heat and uses it later via some underground tanks - that house is totally off the grid as well and being at 6800sq/ft it was pretty impressive . I am pretty impressed with the specs on some of the newer boiler systems and their efficiency - compared to not too long ago they are amazing .

 

The original Federal boiler that heated this huge old brick building I live in weighed over a ton at the scrap yard - it nearly broke my old little utility trailer by the time I got it there and no idea how those tires survived . I only built the trailer to handle about a 1,200lb load total...lol .

 

Sarge

At my new job there is a 4 section chillit chiller/ heat pump serving several bldgs. Glycol beams in big conference rooms and small fan coil type units in offices. Haven't had to really get into it yet but it's pretty slick.

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EricF

Where I grew up in southern Michigan, oil-fired heat largely disappeared in the 70s as a surplus of propane used for grain drying became cheap and plentiful. That paved the way for gas forced-air heat with central A/C to really take off. Hydronic heat was never all that popular around the Great Lakes region -- too much risk of freeze-up if the system shut down in sub-zero weather. I got really familiar with keeping gas forced-air systems in shape.

 

Then I moved to northern New England where oil-fired baseboard hot water loops and window A/Cs are the normal setup... Learned upkeep on both ancient and new boilers. Dealt with finicky mixer valves. Replaced and retro-fitted improved burner controls when old ones failed... Dealt with part of a water loop that froze up just because the wind drove in from an odd direction on a part of the house that was normally kept cool, so then we had to burn more oil to keep the water moving... And managed to be happy about it because propane is overpriced up here. :think:

 

Moved to the new place a few years ago, and one of the big attractions was that it was connected to natural gas, and had a gas forced-air furnace and central air. Simple to clean and check each year. Modern furnaces are a little more fiddly with condensation drains to check and/or flush out if necessary, flame sensors to keep clean and the occasional igniter to replace, but that's about all. No more hoisting window units in and out. I appreciate a well-engineered oil-fired hot water system, but the upkeep and lower efficiency compared to a gas forced-air system or a heat pump setup in most parts of the country just can't compete.

 

A couple of years ago I took out the basic thermostat and replaced it with one of Honeywell's top-end programmable systems -- the sensors are wireless, but the main thermostat and controller are still hard-wired in; in fact, the "thermostat" display upstairs is really just an interface to the "brain box" control that's mounted on the furnace/air handler and has to have all the furnace/AC control wiring broken out and run through the new control. Takes a little time to install, but once it's set up you can have it average across multiple temperature sensors and offset run times against an outdoor temperature sensor. Humidity gets controlled by the same multi-sensor system, and again can react based on the outside humidity too, both in humidification and dehumidification modes. It also relies on sensors in the supply and return ducts to sense the temperatures in the system and adjust run times for better efficiency, and keeps a diagnostic log. It can even handle occupancy sensors, but there's always somebody home, so I didn't bother picking those up. But it's basically a really slick commercial-style control system that can run a conventional home system. For me, it's probably paid for itself already because I only paid for the parts and did my own installation. To have it installed professionally probably would have doubled the price because of the man-hours necessary to do the job right -- you just can't rush carefully wiring up the controls, adding any extra transformers for the relay circuit needed to control an add-on humidifier, and doing a proper set-up of the duct-mounted sensors, then running it through test modes to gather the system's operating temperatures and response curves to feed into the initial setup -- the labor cost is probably as much or more than the cost of the electronics, so the average homeowner won't be able to recoup the cost nearly as fast. No wonder the DIY Nest thermostats sell so well -- they really can't out-perform a good pro-grade multi-sensor system, but they're about all the average homeowner wants to spend on a thermostat. Wife has already decided that if we ever have to move again, there will be no more oil heat and window units -- only gas and central air, and I will be installing another pro control system. :teasing-whipyellow::lol:

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Sarge

One of the things that has come out lately is the forced air smart outlets - they can respond to a central thermostat and monitor/control heat output to each room . Great solution for even basic common forced air systems since trying to get everything balanced for the changing conditions is nearly impossible . The system keeps the volume flowing as it should but just regulates how much air is exchanged in each room and uses a simple replacement outlet grate that has a controller built into it - slick .

 

i can see a big change coming soon in how heating and cooling systems are built - more and more are going to "smart" controls and using much more updated systems . Those commercial style chillers are probably the most advanced and seem to have the most promise - it's more efficient to recover the existing heat and recycle it than to heat or cool the air as a whole .

 

Sarge

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