Thinking about replacing my oil burning boiler with a pellet boiler.
Any opinions, brand preferences, price???
Any opinions, brand preferences, price???
Pellet boiler
- Thread starter Flem
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Are you planning on removing it altogether? Inside or outside placement?
I have the Harman Hydroflex 60 and can give you some info if that is the route you are looking to go. Mine is installed via a water to air heat exchanger on my furnace, but in your case you could add on to your existing system- allowing two different fuel types.
I have the Harman Hydroflex 60 and can give you some info if that is the route you are looking to go. Mine is installed via a water to air heat exchanger on my furnace, but in your case you could add on to your existing system- allowing two different fuel types.
I would either replace my oil burner or use it in conjunction. It would be installed in my basement. I have hot water basement and would use it to heat my domestic water too. Heating space would be about 2,400 sq. ft.
j00fek
Feeling the Heat
i gave this option a lot of thought in the past 2 years. the only thing that made me steer towards switching from oil to nat. gas was the silo. i would want 5-7 tons on hand at all times, and the storage was just not there in my case.
Natural gas? I'm strictly talking about going from oil to pellets, unless I can burn pellets and keep the oil burner hooked up as a backup.
you should be able to have both hooked up and use the oil for backup only i will just take an installer that has a hvac backbround
Flem said:
The Harman would do all of these- my house is 2800 and the system I installed handles it fine. Your install might be more efficient since you'd be running water through-out.(my heat exchanger is rated at 125K btu for water to air) Full bore, with a cold day and a lot of water usage might mean cranking the oil heater on, too. Is there a water to water heat exchanger on your system now?
Fsappo
Minister of Fire
We have sold a large number of the Pinnacle PB150 pellet/corn boiler. They get installed in series with the existing oil system. They qualify for the tax credit. The are not overly complicated, easy to operate and easy to work on. They have a high heat range of 130K btus. More than enough for what your looking to heat. Your kind of out of my sales area, but I can get you info and find you someone to purchase it from locally. BY the way, use my email [email protected]
This is a ghost account here on Hearth.com that I get stuck in sometimes.
This is a ghost account here on Hearth.com that I get stuck in sometimes.
I do have a water to water heat exchanger. About how many bags of pellets should I expect to burn each day?
defield
New Member
Flem and Others,
I am not understanding the wisdom of replacing an oil or gas furnace with only a pellet furnace. Not attacking, just wondering . . . .
You must have better pellet stove/furnace service in your area than seems to be available in central Maine or able to do repair service yourself.
There is a fellow worker whose Harmon Accentra has been out of operation for almost a week and she cannot even get the stove shop staff or the technician to even give her a repair date or a call back. Yes, she did purchase the stove from that shop.
If my oil boiler fails on a weekend or a holiday, a technician WILL respond within hours. My neighbor had a no heat condition on Thanksgiving morning and his oil burner tech was there that morning. Is that service available, or wanted, or needed if a pellet furnace fails?
We wanted to purchase a combination pellet/oil boiler last year, but none were available with that combination when we looked.
So, after giving much thought . . . .
Phase one was a pellet stove.
Phase two was a new efficient oil boiler and hot water system ( Buderus ) with the legacy wood boiler connected in parallel.
Phase three, if and when finances permit, will be a more efficient wood boiler or a pellet boiler connected in parallel with the oil boiler.
We did it this way thinking of having the choice of more than one fuel type, or system to use, and also thinking of the resale value of the house.
Just wondering if pellet furnaces are more prevalent and supported in other areas . . . . If so, that is GOOD.
Ranger
I am not understanding the wisdom of replacing an oil or gas furnace with only a pellet furnace. Not attacking, just wondering . . . .
You must have better pellet stove/furnace service in your area than seems to be available in central Maine or able to do repair service yourself.
There is a fellow worker whose Harmon Accentra has been out of operation for almost a week and she cannot even get the stove shop staff or the technician to even give her a repair date or a call back. Yes, she did purchase the stove from that shop.
If my oil boiler fails on a weekend or a holiday, a technician WILL respond within hours. My neighbor had a no heat condition on Thanksgiving morning and his oil burner tech was there that morning. Is that service available, or wanted, or needed if a pellet furnace fails?
We wanted to purchase a combination pellet/oil boiler last year, but none were available with that combination when we looked.
So, after giving much thought . . . .
Phase one was a pellet stove.
Phase two was a new efficient oil boiler and hot water system ( Buderus ) with the legacy wood boiler connected in parallel.
Phase three, if and when finances permit, will be a more efficient wood boiler or a pellet boiler connected in parallel with the oil boiler.
We did it this way thinking of having the choice of more than one fuel type, or system to use, and also thinking of the resale value of the house.
Just wondering if pellet furnaces are more prevalent and supported in other areas . . . . If so, that is GOOD.
Ranger
Just thinking about using the pellet boiler and keeping the oil boiler hooked up as a backup. Apparently it can be linked so the oil burner will take over if the pellet boiler fails for any reason. Looking for more reasons to stop buying oil and keep my money going to people in the good ole USA. 
When pellets are being made in China, then I'm moving to another country.
When pellets are being made in China, then I'm moving to another country. 
mainegeek
Member
You can definitly daisy chain a pellet boiler with an oil boiler. The pellet boiler will keep the water hot enough to prevent the oil furnace from starting. I do agree that relying on a pellet boiler alone might be a mistake. A good service contract with an oil company can save you a ton of money and get you an very decent response time. Do any stove service companies offer service contracts? I haven't seen any. In fact, my dealer doesn't "service" the stove they sell; they contract that out with technicians
defield
New Member
Flem and Mainegeek,
IMO keeping the old oil boiler and having it connected to the pellet boiler is a GOOD plan!!
Mainegeek is correct, a properly connected pellet boiler, when in operation, will keep the water hot and the oil furnace can be online, on standby, and will not run unless the water temp drops to below the low temp setting on that oil boiler. If the Pellet boiler is down for whatever reason, the oil boiler kicks on ( if needed or wanted) seamlessly and keeps the house heated.
You may need to carefully interview installers. The oil company we have done business with for 39 years wanted NO part of connecting our legacy wood boiler to a new oil boiler. The wanted SEPARATE systems. That would have been VERY cumbersome and would not have worked well at all.
In checking around this area, and asking many questions, I found other oil companies as well as a really experienced independent shop, whose attitude was, "Of course you want your wood boiler tied in, and here is how I would do it correctly". We said "sorry" ( Wanted to say so much more!!) to our dealer of 39 years, and went with the independent shop. They did a beautiful install, and the system works way better than before.
Good luck and keep us posted.
Ranger
IMO keeping the old oil boiler and having it connected to the pellet boiler is a GOOD plan!!
Mainegeek is correct, a properly connected pellet boiler, when in operation, will keep the water hot and the oil furnace can be online, on standby, and will not run unless the water temp drops to below the low temp setting on that oil boiler. If the Pellet boiler is down for whatever reason, the oil boiler kicks on ( if needed or wanted) seamlessly and keeps the house heated.
You may need to carefully interview installers. The oil company we have done business with for 39 years wanted NO part of connecting our legacy wood boiler to a new oil boiler. The wanted SEPARATE systems. That would have been VERY cumbersome and would not have worked well at all.
In checking around this area, and asking many questions, I found other oil companies as well as a really experienced independent shop, whose attitude was, "Of course you want your wood boiler tied in, and here is how I would do it correctly". We said "sorry" ( Wanted to say so much more!!) to our dealer of 39 years, and went with the independent shop. They did a beautiful install, and the system works way better than before.
Good luck and keep us posted.
Ranger
AndrewChurchill
Minister of Fire
I'm using a Harmon PB105 pellet boiler in parallel with a Buderus oil boiler. I have been extremely happy with the PB105! I am going to shut down the boiler this weekend to due a thorough cleaning. I've run about 4 tons of pellets through it since November 1 and it hasn't shutdown on me once.
defield
New Member
Andrew churchill,
You have the BEST of both the pellet and oil worlds!!
What model Buderus??
Many will envy you.
Regards,
Ranger
You have the BEST of both the pellet and oil worlds!!
What model Buderus??
Many will envy you.
Regards,
Ranger
AndrewChurchill
Minister of Fire
Ranger,
It's the G115. I have the same model in my 2400 sq. ft. duplex and it only uses about 800 gallons a year and that includes DHW.
It's the G115. I have the same model in my 2400 sq. ft. duplex and it only uses about 800 gallons a year and that includes DHW.
whippingwater
New Member
I have a Tarm Multi-heat in parallel with a Weil Mcclain propane boiler using primary/secondary piping controlled by a Tekmar 252 two stage boiler control with outdoor reset. Using propane this year because they were the same price, but, when the last of my prebuy is in the tank I will switch to pellets because the price is back under 200/ton and propane went UP. It's good to have choices and backup. I also did the research and installed it myself. Years ago when a zone valve actuator went out, it was $100 to have someone replace it. Next time I replaced one myself for $50 and the next one I replaced the end switch in the actuator for 17 cents. This is what motivated me to learn and install the Tarm myself. Only problems I had with the Tarm were related to operator malfunction.
Flem, Assuming you're not concerned about the resale value of a home without a "Traditional" heat source, here's my two cents worth.
My local dealer sells multiple brands but PREACHES Harmon. He's about the most straight up guy I've met in the stove business or any other for that matter. I unfortunately did not buy my 1st stove (lemon) from him as I had relation working for another dealer (mistake). This guy fought through all of my stove headaches w/me as if he had sold it to me in the first place INCLUDING leaving his family, and coming out to my house on Christmas morning with a new control board! (I was stupid enough to not get my heating oil filled until after the holidays).
Knowing I owed this guy some business, I contacted him about purchasing a pellet boiler to replace the failing oil baseboard system in my home. He's a small low volume dealer in a VERY small town, so his prices are a bit high, but as I learned the hard way, service and straight talk are PRICELESS.
Here's the kicker, he would not even SHOW me his coveted line of Harmons until I replaced my oil fired boiler. Yes, these things have come a LONG way and no, they aren't a glorified space heater as some would imply. Primary heat source, Hell yes: Only heat source....Err,not so much. Getting pellet stove parts in winter is sometimes impossible. LOTS of back order issues. Sometimes the only way to find that special twistamjigit on someones shelf is by using the good old internet. Never mind it could be the last thing you order before your heating pipes burst and take out your computer. Sometimes overnight shipping just isn't fast enough!
Last year I ran short about 3/4 ton of pellets. No one in my area had any left. Some said that because of the housing/building slump, there was a shortage of decent sawdust available. People in my area were burning once reputable pellets that were now half tree bark, and some were even burning pelletized animal bedding from tractor supply. Not me. Don't need the extra headaches of burning that cr@p in my stove. I just fired up my oil rig, grabbed one from the beer fridge and waited for spring!
As they say, "I'm no expert" and take most of what I post on this forum as nothing more than opinion formed by experience (and Budweiser), but take this as a strong suggestion. If at all possible, piggyback that system . You wont be sorry.
My local dealer sells multiple brands but PREACHES Harmon. He's about the most straight up guy I've met in the stove business or any other for that matter. I unfortunately did not buy my 1st stove (lemon) from him as I had relation working for another dealer (mistake). This guy fought through all of my stove headaches w/me as if he had sold it to me in the first place INCLUDING leaving his family, and coming out to my house on Christmas morning with a new control board! (I was stupid enough to not get my heating oil filled until after the holidays).
Knowing I owed this guy some business, I contacted him about purchasing a pellet boiler to replace the failing oil baseboard system in my home. He's a small low volume dealer in a VERY small town, so his prices are a bit high, but as I learned the hard way, service and straight talk are PRICELESS.
Here's the kicker, he would not even SHOW me his coveted line of Harmons until I replaced my oil fired boiler. Yes, these things have come a LONG way and no, they aren't a glorified space heater as some would imply. Primary heat source, Hell yes: Only heat source....Err,not so much. Getting pellet stove parts in winter is sometimes impossible. LOTS of back order issues. Sometimes the only way to find that special twistamjigit on someones shelf is by using the good old internet. Never mind it could be the last thing you order before your heating pipes burst and take out your computer. Sometimes overnight shipping just isn't fast enough!
Last year I ran short about 3/4 ton of pellets. No one in my area had any left. Some said that because of the housing/building slump, there was a shortage of decent sawdust available. People in my area were burning once reputable pellets that were now half tree bark, and some were even burning pelletized animal bedding from tractor supply. Not me. Don't need the extra headaches of burning that cr@p in my stove. I just fired up my oil rig, grabbed one from the beer fridge and waited for spring!
As they say, "I'm no expert" and take most of what I post on this forum as nothing more than opinion formed by experience (and Budweiser), but take this as a strong suggestion. If at all possible, piggyback that system . You wont be sorry.
Flem said:
When the temps were around zero, I was burning 2 bags every 20-24 hours. That's to keep the entire house at 70+ degrees, and something that most pellet stoves can't do by themselves. I don't have a water to water exchanger on mine, so you would probably burn more. The other thing to bear in mind is that ideal return temps should be above 140 degrees, so having several runs on a system like the Harman HF60 is not realistic. Probably two max depending on size and load? Either way, I have been happy with mine, and having the flexibility to run 3 different heat sources (Wood, pellets, Nat. gas) offers peace of mind. BTW- I haven't used the gas once.
wil lanfear
Feeling the Heat
Flem said:
http://burlington.craigslist.org/hsh/1550857370.html
This is what my local dealer is selling the PB105 for, really good price if they have the new pressure ignition.
When running a pellet boiler as primary and oil as secondary, do you need separate chimneys? We currently have a good oil boiler and use a Mt Vernon Insert which does a great job. Long run, I'd prefer to add a pellet boiler as primary with the oil boiler as backup. Thoughts?
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