disappointed with harmon pb105

[riteaidmichelle]

hello to everyone,
I just had a harmon pb 105 installed about six weeks ago for my 2400 sf ranch home. I just bought the home last summer it was built in 1960 and now I am finding out that it is very poorly insulated also. here is my dilema: I am having trouble heating this home with the harmon pb. I am going thru 4-5 bags a day just keeping the heat at 60. when I switch back to the oilburner I probably use the equivalent amount of fuel oil but the house is being kept at 65 degrees. What might be wrong here? is the house too big??? min is at 160 max is at 185 feed rate is at 4 and draft test was done. any help out here would be appreciated bc I feel as though I made a horrible investment.

 

[AndrewChurchill]

Turn your feed rate up to 6. It will get the maximum BTUs out of the PB and your should be able to raise the temp in the house.

 

[riteaidmichelle]

thank you. I will try that. I was afraid I might get partials if i did that?

 

[wil lanfear]

I fired mine the first week in March 2008, ran it all summer for DHW, I sure would be disappointed too if mine was burning 4-5 bags per day with only 60* in the house. I'm heating more sq. footage, three zones, 68*-70*, seven people using DHW, using an average of 2 bags a day this heating season, 2.5 bags when the temp was below zero. My home was built in 1970, not insulated well by todays standards. I'm now running mine with a feed rate of #5. Questions:

Did you self-install or hire the installation done?
Does the boiler ever get to the high setting of 180*or is it fired all the time?
What does the fire look like when (if) lets say at 160*, does the flame wrap itself around the heat exchanger tubes? How many?

 

[riteaidmichelle]

Thank you for your response. The dealer installed it. The boiler is fired all the time. Yes it does wrap itself around the heat exchanger tubes a few at the top.

 

[wil lanfear]

Thank you for your response. The dealer installed it. The boiler is fired all the time. Yes it does wrap itself around the heat exchanger tubes a few at the top.

After you turn the feed rate up to 6, observe how many of the heat exchanger tubes the flame is getting to, more than a few at the top I hope for peek performance.

 

[riteaidmichelle]

thank you I will try that. Is the flame supposed to be very high and going over the heat exchanger tubes?

 

[Sting]

What is the temperature of the supply out -- and what temperature does it return at?

How many zones?

What type of radiation?

What is the heat loss of the building?

 

[riteaidmichelle]

wow those are tough questions. 2 zone baseboard heat>
how do i find out the temp of supply out and return?
what do you mean heat loss of blding?

 

[riteaidmichelle]

i cleaned the boiler sunday and loaded 2 bags at 10pm sunday night and turned feed rate up to six. house heated at 65 but by 4am needed to add more pellets. help????

 

[AndrewChurchill]

Sounds like you need to add a lot of insulation. I don't know that there is anything more that can be done.

 

[whippingwater]

If you do a heat loss calculation like Sting said, you would know if the boiler has enough capacity to heat the building. There are several calculators available online.

 

[nmerrill]

Hello,
I'll elaborate a few things mentioned here... but suffice it to say that if you want to try and solve your problems online, you'll need to do some homework about how hydronic heating systems work, and how your system is plumbed.

Heat loss calculation : basically, in order for a heating system to heat a house to a particular temp, it needs to be able to generate as much BTU as the structure is loosing at the same time. The heat (BTU) that a structure looses over time is dependent on the outside temperature, and the insulation value of the entire structure - that includes windows, doors, walls, etc. etc.
You can use programs to estimate the heat loss of a structure, and any heating system installation *should* start with a heat loss calc.

System supply and return temps: Give essential information as to the heat distribution (baseboards) system's performance. Easiest thing to do is to buy an infrared thermometer and measure the temps of the supply and return pipes.

What temperatures are you seeing at the boiler while your zones are on? Baseboard heat need hot water to produce significant heat - typically they are designed (how many feet of radiator) around 180F supply water.
Lower supply temps will significantly reduce heat output.
There are things you can do to help the pb105 maintain higher temps, but it does not function exactly like your oil boiler - particularly the delay between a call for heat, and a full fire.
How you pb is plumbed could be a significant factor in its performance - particularly how it is joined to your existing oil boiler. There is virtually nothing "standard" about how this is done... even though there should be!

I could go on...

Good luck!

Nat
Vermont
Pb105 #389

 

[wil lanfear]

i cleaned the boiler sunday and loaded 2 bags at 10pm sunday night and turned feed rate up to six. house heated at 65 but by 4am needed to add more pellets. help????

With the feed rate set on #6, the t-stats turned down so no call for heat, does the boiler reach the high setting (180*)? How long a period of time does it take to raise the water temp from 160* to 180*without a heat load on the boiler?

 

[atlarge54]

i cleaned the boiler sunday and loaded 2 bags at 10pm sunday night and turned feed rate up to six. house heated at 65 but by 4am needed to add more pellets. help????

Did you ever look in your attic? Blown in cellulose is the most "bang for your buck" insulation there is, and is quite DIY friendly. Be sure to keep venting paths open around edges and locate and mark any elec. , gas lines etc. Please don't tell me you bought a house and never looked in the attic.

 

[riteaidmichelle]

yes. I had a home inspection done and knew the attic could use some more insulation. oil burner is very old and new one was recommended so decided to go with a pellet boiler. major insulation is my next project.

 

[dumaspup]

riteaidmichelle Could we get an update on how the PB is doing?