500 litres used in 6/7 weeks?

Xcellor

Just before xmas I got a refill of 500 litres of kerosene. To coincide with that my boiler unit packed in and I had to get it replaced. I got a reconditioned (second hand) one looks the same sounds the same etc...

A few days ago my wife calls me to tell me that its freezing cold and no oil left... We have been in the house for 5 years now and I know the normal usage... THis is way above normal usage given that the winter wasn't that cold...

My question is, could the new boiler be using more oil than its supposed to? I don't see any leaks. I've adjusted the thermostat down and am keeping an eye on it.

Other than that I reckon my tank may have been siphoned. A week or so after refill I noticed a plastic container (20 litre sort) in my garden. It wasn't mine and since we have gates and walls around there is no way it could have easily blown in...

I'm leaning towards the second being the reason but wanted to throw it out there since the boiler was changed at the same time...

Any thoughts?

Billy Bunting

What boiler is it and whats your normal usage per day ?

Xcellor

Billy Bunting wrote: »

What boiler is it and whats your normal usage per day ?

I'm not at home and can't think of model off hand but it looks similar to this
http://www.firebird.ie/Products/StandardEfficiencyBoilers/Heatpac.aspx

I don't know exact usage but its heating 5 normal size rads and 2 smaller bathroomfor approx 3-4 hours a day.

I don't know if the model he replaced was exactly the same as he removed. He made remarks that this one was a better, more efficient... He just unscrewed the old one pulled out, and plugged in the new one, connected wires, bled the air out and fired up.

Billy Bunting

There are a lot of things to take into account with calculating oil usage but an average boiler will burn approx 5lts per day at that usage, 2.5lt on getting to temp from cold (1hr)then approx 20min per hr for the maintaining that temp, the average nozzle size burns approx 2.5lt/hr.

So 5lt/day equates to approx 100 days.

Xcellor

So based on that I should get around the 3 months at least... So looks like someone swiped the oil. That and the mysterious oil drum that appeared in garden....................

f*ckers.

sasol

Billy Bunting wrote: »

There are a lot of things to take into account with calculating oil usage but an average boiler will burn approx 5lts per day at that usage, 2.5lt on getting to temp from cold (1hr)then approx 20min per hr for the maintaining that temp, the average nozzle size burns approx 2.5lt/hr.

So 5lt/day equates to approx 100 days.

Billy Bunting - Just curious as to how you calculated these figures ?

I am moved into my new build in July. We are still getting used to the heating and the controls etc. I am trying to not have the heating on too much considering the mild winter that we have had but I am still burning more oil than I would have hoped.

In Nov I got a fill of oil (900 liters) and I have used up about 450 of this so far, in the past 12 weeks.

My house is well insulated. 2,500 sq ft.

I have rads in most of the house, broken down like this
6 average size rads
3 large rads
2 towel rads

And I have two rooms with underfloor (1 room is approx 20 sq M and the other is approx 12 sq m)

My boiler is a Grant Euroflame Condensing Module (90 - 120)

For work reasons I am away a few days a week so heating is not on for at least three days a week, but the heating is on for the rads for perhaps 4 hours each Friday, Saturday and each Sunday and 2 hours on a Tuesday and Thursday.

The underfloor comes on for 5 hours on a Friday and again for 4 hours on a Saturday.

The 4 hours on the Saturday and Sunday is not a continuous 4 hours - it is more like an hour and a half here and a hour there and another hour later. So perhaps I am been fairly inefficient in how I am using it.

I will try to attach a picture of the boiler stat setting - I am not sure if this is correct. I know the father had changed it so it is not at its original setting (as the plumber would have set it).

Any advice would be gratefully received !

Billy Bunting

As previously stated there are all sorts to be concidered when attepting oil usage, what i had done for the OP was a quick calculation an average boiler using an average nozzle with average oil pressure running for the declared time, but it really isn't as simple as that, far from it.
You have a condensing boiler, it has a higher efficiency than the "norm" although a 90/120 would be considered a higher output that the "norm", the good thing with the Grant is on the inside of the case, on the left, there is a data label from the factory telling you what size nozzle and at what pressure it is set at, your 90/120 usually comes out with a .85gph nozzle set at 9 bar, but remember, the nozzle is sized by the manufacturer at 7bar, go high and you use more, lower and you use less, so your commisioning passport would have the right setting the boiler was commisioned to by the commisioning engineer :rolleyes:, failing that being done we'll go with the rough calculation again at factory setting.

Lets not be jumping on me Lads, this isn't out of my books.

Your .85 nozzle passes approx 3.25l/hr, a system will run much longer on initial start up as it needs to heat the place so you can roughly say that each time it has an on period it could run for the first hour to initially heat the place, there on it will run for approx 20min/hr to maintain that temperature. Now! i cant work out your on off times but lets say your boiler fired up for a 4hr period, the first hr it would use 3.25l the following 3hrs it would run for 20min/hr = 1hr, therefore another 3.25l.

3.25 + 3.25 = 6.50lt in one 4hr session.

This is all guestimates, a lot also depends on how well your insulated.

Hope its a help.

sasol

Thanks for that !

DGOBS

Sounds like only the burner was changed, and plug and play it is not!
What nozzle size is in it, was oil pressure,, what co2 and excess air?
Maybe your reconditioned one looks the same, but would have been set up for whatever boiler it was taken out of, not yours. This may dramatically effect oil consumption.