ergomax with weil mclain ultra oil series-1 boiler

[munkyboi]

hi all,

i have the above set up and the boiler is running at 180F and the aquastat on the Ergomax is set at 170F. during the warm months, i am burning about 1.8 gallon of oil just to heat the DHW, and i'd like to know if there is a way that i can lower the oil consumption by adjusting the Ergomax aquastat and/or the thermostat on the boiler?

i lifted up the top panel of the boiler and all i can see is a enclosed metal box labeled "Honeywell L7248C 1030". is that the thermostat?

thanks,
m

 

[velvetfoot]

I'm no expert, but170 seems high to me., but then, I imagine the boiler would cycle more if you set it lower, and that cycling probably consumes more energy for what you get out of it than steady state. Yes, that's probably the boiler aquastat, but I'm not sure how low you can set that and not run into problems with condensation.

I figured out that a cheap electric water heater would pay back in a couple/three years so I put one in.

 

[maple1]

Those are way high temp settings for the summer.

Well, actually the whole year as far as the Ergomax goes (not familiar but assume it's an indirect heater?) - I don't see any reason for it to be at 170, and I sure hope you have a good mixing valve between that & the taps.

I would set the indirect for no more than 140 - which would then mean the boiler at 150 or so, maybe. Or maybe 130/150, you could experiment & see what the recovery is like & if it meets your usage needs (not sure how big it is?). You are losing a ton of heat with the boiler maintaining 180 all summer, and likely costing you on the cooling side too if you have a/c. If you mean 1.8 gallons of oil per day, that has to hurt. My old tankless coil oil setup used around 3/4 gal./day, I thought that was bad. Our new 80 gallon electric heater costs about $25-30/mo for $0.18/kwh electricity.

Pop the cover off the Honeywell and take & post some pics of it, should be an easy adjustment.

 

[munkyboi]

i turned the aquastat on the ergomax indirect water heater (the official name is heat exchanger) to 150 F and it seems that the short cycling has reduced. i haven't touched the honeywell L7248C 1030 yet since in order to get access to the adjustments, i would need to unscrew and remove the metal cover first. so now, the boiler is running at 180F and the ergomax is running at 150F. i found the online manual of the honeywell L7248C 1030 and the instructions on the settings seem to be quite complicated.

http://www.manualslib.com/manual/576170/Honeywell-L7224a.html#product-L7248C

i am leaning towards getting an regular electric water heater installed.

thanks.

Those are way high temp settings for the summer.

Well, actually the whole year as far as the Ergomax goes (not familiar but assume it's an indirect heater?) - I don't see any reason for it to be at 170, and I sure hope you have a good mixing valve between that & the taps.

I would set the indirect for no more than 140 - which would then mean the boiler at 150 or so, maybe. Or maybe 130/150, you could experiment & see what the recovery is like & if it meets your usage needs (not sure how big it is?). You are losing a ton of heat with the boiler maintaining 180 all summer, and likely costing you on the cooling side too if you have a/c. If you mean 1.8 gallons of oil per day, that has to hurt. My old tankless coil oil setup used around 3/4 gal./day, I thought that was bad. Our new 80 gallon electric heater costs about $25-30/mo for $0.18/kwh electricity.

Pop the cover off the Honeywell and take & post some pics of it, should be an easy adjustment.

 

[STIHLY DAN]

At 1.8 gallons of oil a day you must be using a crap ton of hot water. If you are not, look into the heat pump hot water heater at the rate you are using oil, payback will be less than a year.