Issues NOT Using Boiler/Baseboards? <DVC-500>

We are very pleased with our DVC-500's performance so far. Our two story Colonial is evenly heated and the daily chores related to burning coal have become a hobby for me.

My oil fired boiler is only running to supply hot water for showers, etc. We have not and no not intend to turn up our thermostats to fire up the baseboards.

What should I be considering or concerned about from a maintenance perspective regarding my boiler now that it is not being used as it once was? I track my oil usage each year. Last fall at this time I was burning ~2 gal/day. This year I am going through a steady 1 gal/day. Im concerned about seals, filters, and other "things" in a boiler (obviously not a plumber!)

thx

Annual service should be preformed.
A new nozzle and a filter change
But running a oil burner 1/2 as often is not detremental no extra maintaince is nessary.
BDD

I would at least run the circulator pump at least a couple of times a day. You can put a timer on it or just fire up the oil boiler a couple of times a day.

While the coals may be keeping the inside of the house toasty, one can never tell what temp the plumbing for the baseboard is at. If there's a pipe that is on an outside wall that can freeze and burst... mid January would not be a fun time to find out.

Thanks guys. Appreciate the advice.

Hmmmm... and why isn't the coal making your hot water also? It would be almost free! Do you have an indirect tank? Or (I hope not) a coil in the boiler?

Freddy wrote:Hmmmm... and why isn't the coal making your hot water also? It would be almost free! Do you have an indirect tank? Or (I hope not) a coil in the boiler?

I don't know how! Not a plumber and that stuff scares the crap out of me!

I have a traditional oil fired boiler with a hot water coil in it which feeds a 50 gallon insulated hot water holding tank. I thought about the HIlcoil thing in the stove but even after reading the many posts about this subject, I still wouldn't know how to begin......

This is my third season running a setup similar to yours. Weil McLain running one zone to a superstor. I’ve set it up so that my burner pretty much only comes on in the morning for showers & during the evening when everyone is home.

My DVC500 is in the basement, it’s the warmest spot in the house (ranch) – so I have no concerns what so ever about my pipes freezing – your mileage may vary. I have thee other heat zones sitting Idle. I don’t plan on using them anytime soon – I don't loose sleep over my circulators (rebuildable anyway) - if the DVC goes down mid season, I’ll run a salamander until its back up again.

I do all my burner maintenance, installed it myself – Now that the boiler is only doing DHW, I clean the unit maybe every year +- few months. It’s not any dirtier than it was before coal. I retrofitted the sunstrand pump on my beckett AFG with a new clean cut model. It is supposed to keep the burner cleaner and more efficient. I don’t have the efficiency gains yet – I was meaning to do a write up here.

I now run about ½ gallon a day – I was running around a gallon a day – but switching over to using cold water for the wash made a big difference for me. I ran out of oil in my main tank when oil was climbing past $3.75 a gallon – so rather than purchase 500 gal, I put a hose barb onto the pump & have been running my burner on two six gallon metal outboard tanks filled with ULSD from the gas station. Kept me form buying $4.59 / gal oil – but I’m done with it now & ready to fill up at $2 / gal. Wife thinks it’s not worth it until I point out we saved over $1k with my monthly trip to the pump.

Main focus next year is my electric bill.

Good info Coalbin. I'm keeping tabs on my oil usage. Looks like 1 - 1.25 gallons per day and it's all hot water. (Family of five, lots of showers and wash).

Someday I'll figure out how to get hot water out of my DVC.!

I have oil boiler with baseborads too. When the temps get in the single digit and zero or below. I fire the unit up just to move some hot water through the lines. Then turn it off for awhile. If I could get to the wiring. I would put a switch up here on the first floor. I could trip just the pump and zone valve to move the heated water in the baseboards on the first floor , through the system. No worry on the second floor. The water pipes are in the middle of the dinningroom ceiling for the 2 baths upstairs. The baseborad pipes are in the ceiling too. My only worry is the baseborad pipes in the basement close to the outside wall , with a rock foundation. So untill some body wires the valve and pump with a switch , I will turn on the boiler when needed. Got 2 buddies that are electrians , maybe I should ask them more often. Hate ask anybody for anything.

If your system uses zone valves for each zone instead of multiple circulators ( if you have more than one heating zone & only one circulator, you have zone valves ), it's always a good idea to manually open them at least once per month to make sure they'll work when you need them.

I have one zone that was left disconnected for years by the previous owner because he didn't want to go thru the trouble of running the wires behind the walls -- but the wires were already there......telephone wires! Just had to get creative. The phone only uses 2, so I connected the other 2 ( 4 wires inside telephone cable )to a thermostat upstairs & connected the other end to the 24V supply & zone valve........& VOILA! HEAT!

But that valve is sticky -- sometimes it closes, but the contacts inside think it's still calling for heat & keeps the circulator running non-stop. This also keeps the burner running when it's not needed & wastes oil $$$.

Some valves should be powered off prior to manually energizing them or they could be damaged. Check the unit for warnings or shut the power off first to be safe.

SMITTY wrote:If your system uses zone valves for each zone instead of multiple circulators ( if you have more than one heating zone & only one circulator, you have zone valves ), it's always a good idea to manually open them at least once per month to make sure they'll work when you need them.......

Good advise. Thx. I have one circulator, two zone valves. I'll add the once per month test to my chore list