Pellet stove operational. Ditching the oil boiler?

[Jake8078]

Not removing it from the house

It adds value for when I sell some day, but I want to shut it down almost entirely, and have it usable for if the pellet stove malfunctions or to possibly use during longer stove cleanings.

I've scoured the internet and found mixed opinions. It's a cast iron boiler for hydronic baseboard heating. It does -not- appear to be a "cold-start" boiler.

Some say always keep warm, because gaskets /seals will otherwise fail, and all kinds of other potential issues with ever letting it cool. I've had the house since August 2012 and, at the advice of a friend, we turned off the boiler until it was time to use it in November, and shut it down again this April. For now, still fires up just fine and we have not had it serviced since just before we bought the house last August.

I have an electric water heater for DHW, so assuming my pellet stove will continue to provide adequate warmth, turning my oil burner on would really just be wasting money on standby costs.

I realize I should be able to turn down the aquastats to about 90 / 110, but it still seems that running it would just be a waste of money. I also realize that I need to trace the pipes fully and make sure there is no spot that they could get down to freezing temps (I don't believe there is).

But as far as harm to keeping a cast-iron oil boiler off, I want to believe it's not a huge issue. I would think a lot of people do this (especially during the summer).

Edit: The house is only 10 years old, but the boiler was made by a company about whom I can find absolutely no information:

 

[moey]

I shut my down 1986 Burnham cast iron had been hot for probably 35 years had a few small leaks where the cover for the hot water coil was had to tighten down some bolts gently. Nothing leaked after that. You may want to have it cleaned after you shut it down they can crud up. Also do not turn the aquastat down to 90/110 that is worse then shutting it down. I doubt you would have a problem. Turn off the water source to it if you have one. If it leaks for some reason you dont want to keep feeding it.

 

[bdaoust]

How about pipes on outside walls? When it gets really cold - I tend to run oil to make sure they don't freeze.

 

[CamperWill]

Been wondering the same thing, we have an LP boiler that isn't cold-start.. questioning if I even want to light the pilot this year. The pipes along the outside walls is what concerns me.

 

[bdaoust]

The previous homeowners froze the pipes in my bedroom that are on an outside wall because he solely relied on pellet heat.

 

[ChandlerR]

I have almost the same setup. I have hydronic (hot water) not steam. I shut my furnace off four years ago. Due to the prodding of this forum, I run it every once in a while to keep it operational. Other than that, it's off. My pipes are under the floor and don't get cold. I see your boiler is steam, correct? If so, there is no standing water in the pipes. When the boiler is not running they're empty. I would shut it off.

 

[Jake8078]

That good to hear, moey. I am hopeful that many will chime in with the same experience. I'm sure running continuously year-round is no-doubt best for the system, but I wonder if it's not such a big deal if you don't and they insist on it in an exaggerated way?

Worrying about pipes is a secondary concern for the moment. First I need to establish whether or not it's okay to continue shutting down. For pipes, I have some ideas, but would like to stay on the topic of boilers for now :D

Edit: Just now saw your reply after my post, Chandler. Is yours a cold-start or warm-start oil boiler?

Edit2: I'm not certain its steam for sure. I have baseboards rather than radiators and it seemed the piping was tied into the electric water heater to assist in DHW supply.

 

[ChandlerR]

Jake, mine is a cold start. From what I understand, a hot start boiler is usually one that has a coil for domestic hot water. There is an aquastat that monitors the water on the coil and keeps it between a high and low limit. No need for that if you don't use the boiler for hot water.

Seeing as you have baseboards, it's probably a hydronic (water) system. The pipes that supply the first floor heaters are probably fine. The one going to the second floor, if you have one, may be in jeopardy depending how cold the second floor gets. I had a two story house with hot water baseboard heat that I heated with wood. I was there for seven years and the furnace never ran, and I had no issues. As they say, your results may vary.

 

[Jake8078]

Jake, mine is a cold start. From what I understand, a hot start boiler is usually one that has a coil for domestic hot water. There is an aquastat that monitors the water on the coil and keeps it between a high and low limit. No need for that if you don't use the boiler for hot water.

Seeing as you have baseboards, it's probably a hydronic (water) system. The pipes that supply the first floor heaters are probably fine. The one going to the second floor, if you have one, may be in jeopardy depending how cold the second floor gets. I had a two story house with hot water baseboard heat that I heated with wood. I was there for seven years and the furnace never ran, and I had no issues. As they say, your results may vary.

That may be (I am very green with this stuff). Mine definitely does have a coil for DHW because there are pipes run through it. From what I understand otherwise, a cold-start boiler does not have a set temp that it maintains, and will not come on at all unless there is a call for heat from a thermostat or for DHW.

I'm not too worried about the pipes on second floor. It gets very toasty because its a small second floor and is open via a vaulted ceiling to the living room downstairs, which contains the pellet stove. Really, just concerned about turning the boilers off and on entirely, as needed, based on some of the opinions I've read. The ones I'm most concerned about would be the ones in basement close to the walls, but they can be monitored and the boiler can be fired up as needed during really cold spells.

 

[ChandlerR]

You are correct. Now, the pipes that run into the boiler, are they hooked up to you hot water system? Either way, shutting the furnace off won't affect anything. You said you had electric hot water, right? I, personally have never had an issue with any leaks on my furnace after sitting for, literally, years. I was advised to run it now and again to keep the burner in good shape, and I do now. I have also added a fuel treatment to keep the fuel from growing algae because it sits in the tank for so long. (Picked it up at my NAPA store. It's used to treat diesel fuel when storing equipment)

 

[Jake8078]

You are correct. Now, the pipes that run into the boiler, are they hooked up to you hot water system? Either way, shutting the furnace off won't affect anything. You said you had electric hot water, right? I, personally have never had an issue with any leaks on my furnace after sitting for, literally, years. I was advised to run it now and again to keep the burner in good shape, and I do now. I have also added a fuel treatment to keep the fuel from growing algae because it sits in the tank for so long. (Picked it up at my NAPA store. It's used to treat diesel fuel when storing equipment)

Ah, that is a great idea. I do hope very much that I can use my oil infrequently enough to need a fuel treatment

Yes, I do have an electric DHW heater and the pipes for the boiler are hooked up to the hot water system. I usually close the ball valves during the summer to ensure any hot water is not flowing through the cold water in the boiler.

I'm sitting in a toasty 72 degrees right now, which I never would have done with my oil (68 for "heat"and 55 at overnight / while at work).

 

[ChandlerR]

Ah, that is a great idea. I do hope very much that I can use my oil infrequently enough to need a fuel treatment

Yes, I do have an electric DHW heater and the pipes for the boiler are hooked up to the hot water system. I usually close the ball valves during the summer to ensure any hot water is not flowing through the cold water in the boiler.

I'm sitting in a toasty 72 degrees right now, which I never would have done with my oil (68 for "heat"and 55 at overnight / while at work).

Sounds like you are good to go! One of the things I like best about our pellet stove is I am WARM without worry

 

[ScotL]

I just heard today about a guy in Maine that's installing pellet boilers and removing the oil boilers. I couldn't believe it. My first thought was, why?

 

[mchasal]

I just heard today about a guy in Maine that's installing pellet boilers and removing the oil boilers. I couldn't believe it. My first thought was, why?

Could be that he's using the chimney from the oil boiler for the pellet one? I know around here you can't have 2 appliances in one flue. Or is it possible that it's the pellet burner that replaces just the oil burner in an existing boiler? Pellergy I think, (broken link removed)

 

[RKS130]

Our setup uses the oil fired boiler for DHW (an issue I hope to address soon) so there is sufficient cycling to avoid any of the claimed problems. However, at my Mom's house there was an oil fired boiler and and separate gas fired hot water tank. Thus the boiler was off all summer - let's say from April 1 (on average) till Halloween. It was an old monster of a cast iron steam generating boiler and there was never a problem in the 30+ years she owned the house - - - and the boiler was a relic when she bought the place. If you are worried about seals and such I would say to run it for an hour or so once a month - a procedure recommended to my Mom by her oil burner service company for the off season. BUT . . . she never did.

 

[Jake8078]

Our setup uses the oil fired boiler for DHW (an issue I hope to address soon) so there is sufficient cycling to avoid any of the claimed problems. However, at my Mom's house there was an oil fired boiler and and separate gas fired hot water tank. Thus the boiler was off all summer - let's say from April 1 (on average) till Halloween. It was an old monster of a cast iron steam generating boiler and there was never a problem in the 30+ years she owned the house - - - and the boiler was a relic when she bought the place. If you are worried about seals and such I would say to run it for an hour or so once a month - a procedure recommended to my Mom by her oil burner service company for the off season. BUT . . . she never did.

Great to hear! Thanks for the input

 

[daffonce]

I have been contemplating getting an on demand propane hot water system and turning off boiler. However I was thinking a better option then turning it off is getting a new controller that allows the boiler to go down to room temp until there is a call for heat. That way if you are away from home and something goes wrong with pellet stove the oil will come on. Most people wouldnt recomend the controller for normal heating due to the repeated cycling hot to cold. But for emergency it could be nice.

 

[rwthomas1]

Additive in the fuel to help preserve it. Have the system flushed and antifreeze installed so that pipe freezing is not an issue. Antifreeze is common in my area in hydronic heating systems due to older homes with crappy insulation, etc. The pipes can freeze in between cycles if the pipe is in the wrong place, like too close to an exterior wall AND the blown in insulation didn't get to it..... Never heard of a major issue shutting down a boiler for an extended period provided its clean and functional prior to shutdown.