steam boiler oil consumption

Posted by Dr. Hardcrab on January 10, 2006, 6:37 am

>i have a 85 year old 4000 sq. foot masonary with no insulation in the
> walls and insulation blown into the attic. the windows are old. my
> boiler is an oil fired weil mclane from the early 70's rated for 1500
> ft of steam. i have been burning about 3500 gallons a year in
> northeastern PA. i'm trying to figure out if there is something wrong
> with my boiler or vents etc. i know my house could be better insulated
> but, given the current insulation situation is 3500 gallons a
> reasonable amount of oil to burn? Could heat be escaping somewhere in
> pipes, vents? i have asked professionals to look at my boiler and have
> received several answers. most have not spent much time really
> examining my steam system. some say it should be replaced, some say it
> is fine and the issue is insulation related. any ideas?

My father in-law has a house in Maryland (not as cold as your area) that is
1800 square feet and he goes through aboit 1000 gallons during the winter,
so your consumption sounds about right. Probably nothing wrong with the
system. Sounds like you are heating the surrounding real estate.

Follow some of the suggestions from Bob and Ed and you could probably knock
off quite a bit of that oil usage.

Or you could move to Florida...

;-]

Posted by m Ransley on January 10, 2006, 8:28 am

You boiler is probably 70-80% efficent on steady state running but
overall 60% efficient, there are 95% efficient condensing boilers out,
you could save 40% with a new unit, 10-25% with top line windows, and
depending on how much insulation you can shove in 5-40%. I heat 1800sq
ft zone 5 to -15f, last years yearly Ng was 465$, and everything is Ng.
You have alot of room to improve but it costs to do it.

Posted by Bob on January 10, 2006, 8:38 am

Do they make a 95% efficient condensing steam boiler?

> You boiler is probably 70-80% efficent on steady state running but
> overall 60% efficient, there are 95% efficient condensing boilers out,
> you could save 40% with a new unit, 10-25% with top line windows, and
> depending on how much insulation you can shove in 5-40%. I heat 1800sq
> ft zone 5 to -15f, last years yearly Ng was 465$, and everything is Ng.
> You have alot of room to improve but it costs to do it.

Posted by Dr. Hardcrab on January 10, 2006, 9:08 am

> Do they make a 95% efficient condensing steam boiler?

FXC makes an oil-fired condensing boiler, but i don't think it's steam.

>> You boiler is probably 70-80% efficent on steady state running but
>> overall 60% efficient, there are 95% efficient condensing boilers out,
>> you could save 40% with a new unit, 10-25% with top line windows, and
>> depending on how much insulation you can shove in 5-40%. I heat 1800sq
>> ft zone 5 to -15f, last years yearly Ng was 465$, and everything is Ng.
>> You have alot of room to improve but it costs to do it.

Posted by m Ransley on January 10, 2006, 9:24 am

I just googled condensing oil boilers and saw a few. I did not research
them closely, a system 2000 is up to 87%, HW boilers definatly go to
98-99% with 96% being easily found, Steam is another issue altogether.
Operating temp vs efficiency on modulating boilers varies max
efficiency, being at lower water temps on some units. Point is there
are alot of ways to save, and my several boiler guys always recommend
whats easy for them and what they sell, not what I want or need, Today
and the future supply of Ng are going to to stay tight with high prices
since no real new drilling is going on, Soon we will be importing more
LNG because of dam invironmentalists blocking drilling we all are paying
out the ass. Anwar is the lastest loss to large reserves, and Im never
going there to see it, its to dam cold there. These high and higher Ng
prices are here to stay.

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