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Oil burner vs Solid fuel stove with a boiler... what is going on?!?

  • 26-10-2009 12:56pm
    #1
    Chief
    Registered Users Posts: 450 ✭✭


    Hey folks,

    Stumped is the word. We will be in the new house a year on 30th October. Had oil burner from the beginning and had a back boiler installed but decided to change is for an olymberl (spelling) aiden solid fuel stove with a boiler on it. A different plumber installed the stove as the original plumber was unavailable.

    If we turn on the oil, the house is BOUNCING with heat within 20 minutes or so. If we use the stove by itself all day with a red hot fire in it we get at the very best a wee bit of a lukewarm feeling to the radiators. No matter what fuel we use, from plain coal (rotten and messy on glass and loadsa ash) to logs (rottenly rotten) to smokeless stuff specifically for closed appliances it is the same. The original plumber returned to sort a leak a few months later and re-welded a pipe to discover that the stat that controlled the pumping of the water sent by the stove was on the wrong pipe, he set it to 50 degress c. Still lukewarm.

    Maybe I'm expecting too much but the stove supposedly heats 14 rads and we really only need 3-5 heated at all in the house.

    Thanks for any advice in advance. Gonna consult with a plumber AGAIN today.


Comments

  • #2
    old boy
    Registered Users Posts: 2,658 ✭✭✭old boy


    the solid fuel has to heat the back boiler first, then heat the copper cylender,
    it could be that the copper cylender is of the wrong type, there are two types direct and indirect, i forget which is which, theirin may be they answer to your conundrum


  • #3
    MiniGolf
    Registered Users Posts: 757 ✭✭✭MiniGolf


    It will probably be down to the rated output of the boiler vs the stove.
    If you have 14 rads I can assume it is a larger house.... The oil boiler is probably around the 35kw (Approx 120,000 btu) mark. At best the stove might have an output of 20kw (approx 69000 btu) Note: that would be a VERY large stove.
    If the figures I have quoted are even nearly right there is no way the stove will heat the house on it's own.


  • #4
    Chief
    Registered Users Posts: 450 ✭✭Chief


    Thanks for the replies lads. Old boy: I will get a plumber in to check that, you would think the plumber who installed the stove would have said something if this is the case but what your saying is the boiler then the tank should get heated then the rads? Is the same true of the oil or does it heat the water, go straight to the rads then up into the tank? If so I wonder if the same could be done for the boiler. My assumption was that when the stat on the pipe leading up to the tank from the stove read it's temperature as high enough it began pumping. It's the way it was explained to me anyway. Thanks for the suggestion.

    MiniGolf: We have 8 big rads and 8 sort of half sized rads. The stove is the following:

    http://superstore.ie/acatalog/Olymberyl_Boiler_Stove.html and it supposedly is 21kw supporting 10-12 rads (though i was led to believe 14 was possible).

    Right enough about the 35kw and the 21kw, some difference and of course how much of the kw is coming out the front of the stove and not getting used by the boiler?

    We have thermostatic valves on all the rads and all the rads we don't use are set to the frost symbol on the valve. The ones we use daily mainly are 1 big rad in the kitchen (valve at 5 to begin with then down to 3 when its toasty), 1 big rad and 1 half rad in the dining / living room (both set to 3 mainly), 1 big rad in the sitting room (normally set at 5 then 3) and 1 half rad in the loo (set at 3). So that makes 3 bigs and 2 halfs on the most. Night time we sometimes put on the 1 big rad in each bedroom before bed and start the off at 5 then turn down as the rooms get toasty.

    Maybe I'm using the valves wrong or again maybe we're just hoping far too much from the stove but we don't use even half of our 16 rads so should we not be getting some decent heat in the rads after all day of use? Thankfully the kitchen and dining rooms get tasty from the stove itself after 60 - 90 minutes.

    All just seems very controllable with the oil. All always lukewarm (if we're lucky) with the stove. It's a 1900 square foot dormer house. When we do have the oil on the burner always seems to be on the go, should it constantly sound like it's burning the fuel as it never seems to go quiet no matter how long it's on.

    Thanks again folks and so


  • #5
    JamesM
    Registered Users Posts: 1,775 ✭✭✭JamesM


    Seeing that you want to use the stove to keep the kitchen and dining room "tasty", I would suggest that you use the oil to bring the system up to temperature and then let the stove take over.

    1/ Have you had the oil boiler serviced recently ? It could be dirty.
    2/ If the house is bouncing with heat, you may have the thermostat on the oil boiler very high - 60c should be enough in this weather, going up to 70c or 75c in colder weather.
    Both the above could account for the boiler running for a long time without cutting off.
    Jim.


  • #6
    Chief
    Registered Users Posts: 450 ✭✭Chief


    Thanks Jim, haha I meant toasty :P I will check out the stat cheers. How long would you run the oil at the proposed temperatures before I fire up the stove?


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  • #7
    demanufactured
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,756 ✭✭✭demanufactured


    Turn on your oil a light the stove straight away.


  • #8
    JamesM
    Registered Users Posts: 1,775 ✭✭✭JamesM


    Agreed, I would light the stove as soon as you want it. Sometimes people would have the heating on earlier in the day, and only light the stove when it's time to sid down and relax in the evening.
    You could have a circulation problem when the stove reaches the temperature its thermostat is set to bring on its pump, if the oil is still on - sometimes the pumps run in opposite directions.
    That may be the time to turn off the oil boiler.
    Jim.


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