Boiler cycling on/off

robocode

Renting in an old house and having just paid for a lot of oil to be delivered I have become acutely aware of the how often the boiler (pic below) turns on/off. It seems to switch on every 5-10 minutes for a few minutes. It's heating a double-rad in the kitchen, double in sitting room, double in bedroom and 3 other singles (not at max) upstairs. There are a few others permanently off. Is this normal for an old draughty house? The boiler temp is set at ~70

jimf

pretty much normal if the only heat control you have is the stat at the boiler and the time clock

robocode

OK, good to know, thanks for the prompt reply! The downside of renting (one of the many) I suppose, have to put up with whatever is in place. It's heating the house well, just worried that it's burning through the oil (no pun intended)

Wearb

robocode wrote: »

Renting in an old house and having just paid for a lot of oil to be delivered I have become acutely aware of the how often the boiler (pic below) turns on/off. It seems to switch on every 5-10 minutes for a few minutes. It's heating a double-rad in the kitchen, double in sitting room, double in bedroom and 3 other singles (not at max) upstairs. There are a few others permanently off. Is this normal for an old draughty house? The boiler temp is set at ~70

In all fairness, rented property owners should have their boilers serviced regularly, to minimise the heating costs to their tenants. You should ask that this be done.

Btw I am curious about a fan like thing at the LHS of you pic. Could you post a pic from a bit further back?

jimf

Wearb wrote: »

In all fairness, rented property owners should have their boilers serviced regularly, to minimise the heating costs to their tenants. You should ask that this be done.

Btw I am curious about a fan like thing at the LHS of you pic. Could you post a pic from a bit further back?

frost stat maybe ?????

robocode

I always assumed it was just an extraction fan, the boiler is indoors

jimf

jimf wrote: »

frost stat maybe ?????

kick up the arse for jimf wrong again :eek:

and no volunteers for the above please I have a wife who is always very obliging in that dept :D

Wearb

robocode wrote: »

I always assumed it was just an extraction fan, the boiler is indoors

Thanks for pic.

That is very interesting. What happens if fan fails? Does the boiler soot up. Why is there a fan on the vent pipe anyway? Burner fan should be able to take in enough air there.
Unless it is a heater wired to frost stat as jim suggested, but would be a strange way to do it, as it wouldn't protect whole system.

Get yourself a carbon monoxide monitor, just to be on the safe side.n

robocode

The fan pushes air outside via the vent, not too sure why. I'll get a carbon dioxide monitor though, thanks for the heads up!

Wearb

robocode wrote: »

The fan pushes air outside via the vent, not too sure why. I'll get a carbon dioxide monitor though, thanks for the heads up!

That should be carbon monoxide. I corrected the other post.

It must play havoc with combustion ratios. One fan looking for air the other stealing it. Do you have soot at the end of your flue? Be sure to get that alarm.

Wearb

Just noticed also that the burner isn't fitting properly to boiler. Nut seems to be missing. This setup needs looking at. Do you have a plumber mate?

JamesM

Looks like owner decided to fit an extractor fan instead of getting smelly boiler serviced. Burner not fitting properly, blocked up boiler smelling a bit - sure I'll fit a fan to get rid of the smell.

robocode

It's rented, so the risk is if I have the landlord to have it looked at, they will get their normal guy, who presumably did this in the first place. There is rarely any smell, and it's in the utility room. Not ideal by the sounds of it, but don't know what I can get done. Regretting asking now, ignorance is bliss and all that

Wearb

robocode wrote: »

It's rented, so the risk is if I have the landlord to have it looked at, they will get their normal guy, who presumably did this in the first place. There is rarely any smell, and it's in the utility room. Not ideal by the sounds of it, but don't know what I can get done. Regretting asking now, ignorance is bliss and all that

Print off a few of these posts and show it to landlord. Explain that you are worried.

robocode

Wearb wrote: »

Print off a few of these posts and show it to landlord. Explain that you are worried.

Any idea how much it could cost to get it sorted?

jimf

robocode wrote: »

It's rented, so the risk is if I have the landlord to have it looked at, they will get their normal guy, who presumably did this in the first place. There is rarely any smell, and it's in the utility room. Not ideal by the sounds of it, but don't know what I can get done. Regretting asking now, ignorance is bliss and all that

ignorance may be bliss in some cases but not here im afraid

we are talking about an appliance that has the potential to emit high and dangerous levels of co into your living space

Wearb

robocode wrote: »

Any idea how much it could cost to get it sorted?

New "O" ring. New flexible hose. Probably boiler service door gadget and service. If that's all and baffles ok, and if air intake is adequately sized, about €110.

robocode

Wearb wrote: »

New "O" ring. New flexible hose. Probably boiler service door gadget and service. If that's all and baffles ok, and if air intake is adequately sized, about €110.

I see you're in the 'Sunny SE', me too. I imagine the landlord has a guy but if not is there someone you would recommend around Tramore/Waterford?

scudo2

jimf wrote: »

ignorance may be bliss in some cases but not here im afraid

we are talking about an appliance that has the potential to emit high and dangerous levels of co into your living space

ALL opinions and advice that has been given here so far, is from highly experienced oil service engineers.

Boiler is dangerous due to burner not attached properly.
Fan is not helping and will help draw dangerous fumes out of boiler if room is airtight.
All you need is a birds nest for it all to go critical.
Mainly due to lack of a 5cent nut.

Wearb

robocode wrote: »

I see you're in the 'Sunny SE', me too. I imagine the landlord has a guy but if not is there someone you would recommend around Tramore/Waterford?

I am even more sunnier than that .
Don't know anyone there. Ask around or check OFTEC website. You should get permission from landlord if you are going it alone. In a case like this you would be perfectly entitled to bill your landlord for the work (if he didn't act on your request). But enforcing such rights is another days work.

robocode

scudo2 wrote: »

ALL opinions and advice that has been given here so far, is from highly experienced oil service engineers.

Boiler is dangerous due to burner not attached properly.
Fan is not helping and will help draw dangerous fumes out of boiler if room is airtight.
All you need is a birds nest for it all to go critical.
Mainly due to lack of a 5cent nut.

The fan feeds a slotted vent on the external wall, so at least no chance of a birds nest, and this house is far from airtight :P advice heeded though, I'll pick up a carbon monoxide monitor tomorrow and speak to the landlord during the week

scudo2

robocode wrote: »

The fan feeds a slotted vent on the external wall, so at least no chance of a birds nest, and this house is far from airtight :P advice heeded though, I'll pick up a carbon monoxide monitor tomorrow and speak to the landlord during the week

Birds nest in BOILER chimney will result in all the fumes coming out where the burner is not attached properly.

If the burner becomes detachment from boiler due to no nut it could/will cause a fire,

If chimney gets blocked boiler could also backfire causing burner to pop out.

robocode

There is no boiler chimney though, just the vent

Wearb

Post a pic of the top of the boiler.

JamesM

robocode wrote: »

There is no boiler chimney though, just the vent

I can't stand the suspense - It's nearly an hour

Is there a pipe coming out of the hole in the top of the boiler and leading somewhere outside

Jim

robocode

Yeah my mistake, there obviously had to be a chimney of some sort
From l-r we have top of boiler, outlet of boiler chimney, outlet of fan

JamesM

Presumably the fan is connected to the timer and runs when the timer switches the heating on. I would unplug it for a start and then get the boiler serviced as soon as possible.
It looks like when the wind blows from a certain direction the fumes blow back through the boiler into the utility room and so the fan was fitted to an existing vent.

Jim

anthonyos

I came across an extractor fan last year on an in door oil boiler an electrian fitted it because the walls in the room kept going black from the smoke and the plumber thqt fitted it said it was normal

scudo2

By right.
Drilled air holes should be opened up to take a 4" vent and a flexing hose then attached from it to the burner. Creating a balanced flue, room sealed boiler.

Way better and safer than the fan, which is drawing air away from boiler rather than supplying air for combustion.

Lovely holes in flue are very tempting bird boxes !
Due to lack of small mesh (chip pan) type of flue guard.

jimf

scudo2 wrote: »

By right.
Drilled air holes should be opened up to take a 4" vent and a flexing hose then attached from it to the burner. Creating a balanced flue, room sealed boiler.

Way better and safer than the fan, which is drawing air away from boiler rather than supplying air for combustion.

Lovely holes in flue are very tempting bird boxes !
Due to lack of small mesh (chip pan) type of flue guard.

the bluetits love these little safe havens

robocode

Thanks for the advice guys