Fuel Oil Heating

brad_oatley · Oct 2, 2004

Just plain wrong junkman. I've been 32 years in this business, currently employ 56, sell no fuel product, am completely unaffiliated, service all fuels including geothermal, solar, oils #1, #2, #4, #6, nat gas, LP gas, wood, coal.
Gaseous fuels are superior fuels for residential comfort applications. Across a life cycle analyses, factoring in maintenance costs, they are cost effective also.

ducati996 · Oct 2, 2004

Just a product suggestion that I know works very well, is a Home oil gravity feed Convection heater...the particular heater that I have located for family is the Normandie unit
from the mfg. Franco belge. This unit produces 44,000 BTU which is very good, with a clean blue flame. No electric is required, and under medium level can heat 2,000 sq feet for about 20 gallons a month.. look under oil/kerosene and then Normandie

Franco Belge oil convection heat

Ducati

beenthere · Oct 2, 2004

Yes Junkman, and I was maintaining that fuel oil furnace several times a year, including the removal of the soot which required a very good vacuum system, and try as I might, very hard to not get some all over (worse than the grease being talked about in the other thread).

I was taking the 'oil heater' in this thread as being a drip gravity fed type, which is what I had in the cabin and in some earlier rental places I stayed in years ago. They give an odor all their own to the surrounding tapestry and clothes. Maybe the new ones don't do that anymore, and that would be great if they didn't.

I've had gas now for about 10 years, and cleaning the furnace isn't necessary except for some dust balls that appear from somewhere. The maintenance has been one ignitor that is used in place of a pilot light, and I expected that to happen so had a spare on hand.

If oil heat is what is desired by anyone, I am perfectly okay with that. No problem on this end. And it just may be my opinion alone, but to me I am glad I don't have to deal with connecting and disconnecting the fuel oil lines, working with the occasional leaky connection (yep, gas is explosive, but smells and gives a warning), and cleaning the mess up. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Didn't mean to say the wrong thing. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

Junkman · Oct 2, 2004

Guess that I am also on the wrong page... I was referring to a full fledged oil burner unit with a hot air heat exchanger. I have my furnace cleaned once a year by a burner specialist and I have never experienced any leaking fittings. I have my furnace piped with a return to the tank from the burner pump. This eliminates any air entrapment that will cause ignition problems. If the burner is working properly, the cad cell will not soot up and shut the unit down. I will admit that cleaning can be a nuisance if you don't have the proper equipment. That is why I use a fuel oil burner service. I don't have the proper equipment to do all the maintenance myself. I can do some of it, but I choose not to. If you can't do the complete job, then I believe that it should be left for the person that has the tools to do the complete job. If the burner stopped working in the middle of the night, I have the knowledge and tools to get it back on line along with a complete set of commonly used service parts.

v8dave · Oct 3, 2004

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( . . . From the investment in your setup so far, I don't see how the cost of propane is going to be a limiting factor. . . Really not trying to put you down in any way. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif )</font>

You have no idea of my financial situation. /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif

Adios.

graybeard451 · Oct 3, 2004

<<The unit is vented to the outside, and it uses outside air for combustion>>

You should be golden, code should be 18 inches off the floor if you store gasoline inside (garage). Junkman is correct, you can't compare modern hi-tech oil fired heating equipment to old fashioned pot burners. You shouldn't have to touch this unit until you run at least 500 gallons through it. Most gas fired wall units that I've seen are going to take combustion air from the shop, INCREASING the risk of problems. Outside air intake not only removes the risk of explostion, but does away with blocked intake from things like sawdust. If you have soot, from ANY fuel source it is because you don't have enough air for the amount of fuel. Running low sulfur fuel should reduce the chance of damaging the heat exchanger. These hi-tech units are condensing on start up and shut down, (net stack temp below the boiling point of water). If you combine sulfur and water you get sulfuric acid which will rot out the heat exchanger. Set up a tank, these run gravity from the bottom of the tank to the unit. Then you can put a transfer pump in the top of the tank to fill your tractor. Two problems fixed for the price of one! Good luck.

v8dave · Oct 3, 2004

Graybeard, thanks. This means I also need to mount the outside tank higher, which is available. The heating guy mentioned it when estimating the project. I just wasn't thinking about the need to lift the furnace too.

This resource is great, without this exchange, I wouldn't have been keyed to the need to lift the heater--propane, fuel or pellet. This forum prevented a hazard.

v8dave · Oct 3, 2004

Duc, thanks. The Toyo unit is just a plain ole heater--looks to operate similar to yours. Since I don't need the ambiance of a fire or good looking furniture in the shop, I'll stick with the toyo--if I still go that way.

Riding note: I've a BMW K100, been looking at a multi-strada any advice?

skent · Oct 4, 2004

I needed to replace the main heat in our farmhouse last year. Normally we used 350 gallons of propane in a "Warm Morning" heater (22000 BTU) and 250 gallons of K1 in a Lear Kerosene (pot style) heater. The Warm Morning heater was unreliable and would go out occasionally. The Lear did not have a thermostat and ran around 75% efficient (lots of heat going up the flu) Did the research. Monitor got lots of bad write-ups. Went with a Toyo Laser 56. Just under $1200. Took out the propane. Found out that we never needed to light the Lear at all last winter. Heated the Farmhouse with less then 300 gallons the whole season (central Maryland). I was really happy and the little 56 just purred along. I have no regrets. Very easy to do self service. Just some cleaning every second or third year. The ratings are very conservative, I was convinced I would need the 73, (1300 square foot farmhouse) but my dealer said it's not good to go too big, as the unit will cycle on and off too much. It will cycle between low/medium/high with more efficiency the cycling on and off. Also, if it ends up being too small, the resale value of these things is unreal. I figure in three years with the Toyo 56, it will have just about paid for itself.

Super efficient and quiet. No regrets.

skent · Oct 4, 2004

I have a Lear Siegler Kero unit (as a back up) and yes, if the door gasket is bad it will stink up the place. It's too big for what we need (60000 BTU) and does not have a thermostat. If you're cold, open the valve, if you're hot, close it. Was good in the 50's and 60's. With an efficiency around 75%, not my choice, but the Toyo unit is a sealed combustion unit, draws outside air in a coax pipe, burns, exhausts out the same pipe (serves to perheat the combustion air).