Need help with an econoburn installation

[airlina]

To all you experts out there , I am in need of some help with my Econoburn 100 installation. Winter here in Western New York comes quickly from here on , so I figured I'd better get crackin on my boiler installation. I am in the plumbing phase currently-specifically plumbing my econoburn in parallel to my existing oil boiler. My plan is for the wood boiler to be primary but if the fire goes out when I am away the oil boiler will kick on. At least for the first year, I intend to experiment with small intense fires to heat my zones (no storage) with the plan being more frequent intense fires over the other option of longer smoldering fires for more efficient gasification. with this in mind I have run into a few questions. I have studied some schematics from this website and believe that I have the plumbing figured out however 2 questions have arisen. Number one- As I understand it, my boiler fan for gasification will come on and run when the aquastat senses a temp below the lets say 180 degree setting on the control panel , so when my fires goes out the fan will still run needlessly as the boiler cools. This also applies to my near boiler piping circulator pump which is set on an aquastat that kicks off at 150 degrees. As the water cools, this circulator will again be activated needlessly as the fire goes out and the water temp cools below 150. I would like some kind of thermal switching mechanism to shut the fan and pump off as the fire goes out , so I am not wasting electric and wearing out these devices. Any ideas on this?
Number 2 is , what is the best way to wire the oil boiler so that it only comes on as a backup if the woodboiler is not stoked. I understand that currently, limit switches in my respective zone valves are made when the valve opens and the oil boiler is turned on. How do I keep that from happening once I parallel my wood boiler to the oil boiler? As I am just a do it yourself homeowner trying to do these hookups- please pretend you are explaining your answers to your dog , then I will probably understand them. In other words be very specific as this is all new to me. Thanks in advance Bruce Lina in Western New York

 

[Nofossil]

There's a lot to absorb if you're starting from scratch and trying to wrap your head around this - don't feel bad if it doesn't make sense right away.

There are many ways to solve the problems that you describe. As far as shutting down the fan earlier as the fire goes out, some people have used a timer. With some experience, you'll have a good idea of how long a load will burn. Using a timer to shut off the fan has the added benefit that if you get the timing right, you can preserve a big bed of coals so that restarting is easy.

I wouldn't shut off the circ that way. Let it run if the controller thinks that there's heat - it shouldn't hurt anything. Shutting it off could cause overheating.

Disabling the oil boiler isn't too bad. If you look, you'll see that there is a wire pair that goes from the oil boiler control to the zone valve limit switches. Interrupt either of those wires whenever the wood boiler is running - perhaps a make-on-rise aquastat on the wood boiler.

 

[pybyr]

Bruce/ airlina-- I'm tired from other things don't have a quick answer-- I haven't yet finalized either my decision on controls for the purpose you mention, or hooking them up-- have heard of people proceeding as Nofossil suggests and being pleased with their results. Also-- I want to note that based on your questions, you seem to have absorbed way more than you may be giving yourself credit for-- not that that means you have the all the answers, but sometimes just being on the path makes a big difference.

 

[airlina]

Nofossil and Trevor, Thanks for the response I have been folllowing both of your posts on this forum for awhile and you guys have been very helpful in getting me to the point of trying this hookup myself. great website nofossil I have your schematics printed out for reference. Can you elaborate on the relay setup to interupt the oil boiler limit switch. If I can figure out the way to wire it using the relays that sounds like the way to go to keep the oil boiler on standby in my parallel system. Thanks Bruce