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Posted by Steamhead on April 04, 2010 at 19:12:45:
In Reply to: Re: Oil boiler - FP industries posted by Heatpro on April 01, 2010 at 18:13:26:
Au contraire, HP.....
Going by manufacturer's published output ratings, a new wet-base boiler (typically fired with an oil burner) properly fitted with a power gas burner will show up to 6-7% better efficiency than the usual atmospheric gas boiler.
The two main reasons for this are- 1: the wet base absorbs more heat from the flame, and 2: the power burner needs less excess air for a clean burn than an atmospheric type does.
The power burner is standard on boilers over a certain commercial size. Several manufacturers have recognized the advantages of wet-base power-gas-fired boilers for residential use, and have approved certain burners with their boilers. The Slant/Fin Intrepid, Solaia and Smith 8 series are three that I know of. These are good candidates for steam systems, and hot-water systems where you must use a chimney to vent them.
Whether the FP boiler in question would be a good candidate for a power gas burner retrofit remains to be seen. I'm not familiar with it, and it doesn't appear in the Hydronic Rating Handbook.
: In these days of fuel economy, replace the oil boiler with a gas boiler originally made for gas fuel. Oil boilers rely on radiant heat of the flame for a part of the heating efficiency. There is no significant radiant heat with a gas flame, so part of the heating surface is lost when an oil boiler is used with gas burners. A gas burner is designed to make use of heat exchange in the passages, the oil burner doesn't have as extensive passages.