Automatic heating oil delivery

[Stelcom66]

Our 80 gallon electric tank heater only takes up 25a of panel space, cost around $500, was an easy install, and keeps us in DHW for around $25/mo (at 0.18/kwh). Pretty hard to beat.

Whenever it goes south, I will just replace it with another one but not as big.

When there were 5 of us in the house the HW heater within the Buderus furnace made sense between showers, dishwasher runs and laundry. Now I wish I had something like that, or an on demand system.

Now it's just me. I wash the dishes by hand, will use the dishwasher once every month and a half or so. I've heard it's a good policy to do so to prevent components/seals from drying up, but that may just be a myth.

 

[Stelcom66]

As far as I know, there is not an automatic shutoff. Its a really bad idea to run a tank out of oil as it can suck in some debris. Its not that hard to bleed a pump with a standard gravity line from the base of the tank to the pump but plan on changing the filter. If the boiler is fed from an overhead line I think it requires a different procedure to get the air out of the lines.

I think the lowest it got was just under a quarter tank, but that may be too low. I'll need to routinely check it.

 

[Brian26]

I stopped auto fill when I got my pellet stove because they were putting in only 50 gallons at a time! LOL Then I went with a cheaper pay when fill company. Then last month I finished the Home Depot cheapo Eco Smartie 27 Kw On Demand Hot Water Panel and 125 amp sub panel installation with hookup to the indirect SuperStor boiler hot water tank, instead of pulling colder street water.
So now I just wave to the trucks as they go bye. ;-)
However I can open and close a valve and turn on the Buderus Oil boiler and use oil of the price is right. Maybe $2.00 per gallon

Pic 1 - EcoSmart 27kw using 3 - 40 amp breakers
Pic 2 - 90 amp draw when taking a shower
Pic 3 - Indirect tank temp in warm basement near pellet stove gets pellet heat to warm up from 6o to 80 Degs F overnight to save a lot of energy than heating cold street water at 45 degrees in winter time! ;-)

A heat pump hot water heater that is about 380% more efficient would have been cheaper and cost about $10 in electricity to run each month.

 

[Dix]

When there were 5 of us in the house the HW heater within the Buderus furnace made sense between showers, dishwasher runs and laundry. Now I wish I had something like that, or an on demand system.

Now it's just me. I wash the dishes by hand, will use the dishwasher once every month and a half or so. I've heard it's a good policy to do so to prevent components/seals from drying up, but that may just be a myth.

An appliance issue, my specialty

Use that diswasher !! It's me, 2 terriorists, and a cat. I load the dishwasher as I use dishes (not a lot of cooking, I cook more for the dogs, than myself !) Between all the dishes, glasses, pots, etc, I run the DW 2 - 3 times a week, tops, You use less HW that way, as opposed to hand washing.

 

[Stelcom66]

An appliance issue, my specialty

Use that diswasher !! It's me, 2 terriorists, and a cat. I load the dishwasher as I use dishes (not a lot of cooking, I cook more for the dogs, than myself !) Between all the dishes, glasses, pots, etc, I run the DW 2 - 3 times a week, tops, You use less HW that way, as opposed to hand washing.

Well that's what I like to hear! I did wonder about the water efficiency. I probably use more water than I should when I hand wash. I hear ya re: cooking for the terriers (ists!) I have 5 cats. Want to have a dog again. I'd always have 2 portions, 2 hamburgers, chicken, etc - one for me, one for Abbie (RIP partly visible on avatar)

I think tomorrow I'll start to load the dishwasher. I have enough plates, utensils etc. where I can pretty much load it up then run it.