Pellet boiler piping

[alaz]

I am lookking for direction on pellet boiler piping.
I have been debating: Parallel or series on pellet boiler piping to oil boiler?
My goal is to have pb105 meet my base needs and have my system 2000 oil boiler supply any needed BTU's on peak days, or in situations when all zones call, including dhw.
Can this be done? I like parallel piping b/c of flexibility and apparent efficency. What are the drawbacks?

 

[Eric Johnson]

I really don't think there are many, if any drawbacks to parallel piping. Usually, as in my case, the existing boiler has the zones and pumps and relays plumbed in close, so it would be a job to relocate everything so that the fossil fuel boiler could be bypassed.

There are plenty of drawbacks to series piping, on the other hand--things from efficiency compromises to maintenance complexities if one of the boilers goes down or needs service. I can easily isolate the wood boiler and keep my house warm, but not the gas unit.

I shut the gas off at the beginning of the heating season and leave it off, unless we're going to be out of town for more than a day. I decided that trying to integrate the gas boiler into the wood system was more trouble than it was worth in my case, since the wood supplies all our heating needs, plus DHW.

 

[Sting]

There are no drawbacks to a correctly installed parallel boiler system. Save one -- it costs more up front to do. Your operational costs ( depending on how you did the job) will be the same or ( usually) less, and your operation choices will not be limited if you need to take one or the other appliance out of the loop at any time to solve drama!

Search and read about primary / secondary loop piping!

 

[alaz]

Thanks for the feedback. I contacted my oil boiler manufacturer and found out that parallel is the only option for my system. (System 2000). So time to read up on parallel piping. Thanks.