problems with my boiler

paula74

i hope someone out there can give me a bit of advice. i have a firebird boiler and Im putting in about 300euro a month in oil and i had it serviced about 6 months ago. i only have it switched on for an hour in the morning then a about 3 or 4 hours at night, so im not using it constantly.... has anyone any suggestions on what to do next?

Avns1s

Is it a standard house?

Based on the amount of time your boiler is on, you could be using close on 3 gals per day = 90 gals per month. This is roughly about 400 litres. How much per litre do you pay for your oil.

This calc. is based on the boiler going pretty much full tilt all the time it's on.

I would agree that €300 p.m.seems high. You sure you dont have any leaks on the oil line or an "oil fairy" who visits at night?

Andrea B.

has anyone any suggestions on what to do next?

Lock your tank:cool:

No (although it's worth checking), honestly; what type of thermostat controls have you? If it is the one on your firebird only, then it should be set at whatever your optimum temperature is.

A way to do this is to let your boiler come on with the dial set to max (clockwise fully) . Once you feel the house is adequately warm (possibly after 30 mins), then turn the dial slowly anticlockwise until the burner lamp goes off. Bring it forward a few degrees and mark this position, leaving the dial there for the future.

If bringing the stat down when you feel optimum temp is reached does not knock off the burner, then you need the stat set up looked at.

JamesM

It really depends on the number and size of the rads and also the thermostat setting. As well, you are talking about the coldest months of the year.
Do you really only have it on for 5 hours on the weekend days ? I presume that the service guy did open up the boiler and clean it properly, using a vacuum cleaner etc. When you buy 300euros of oil at a time instead of 1000euros worth, you pay a lot more per litre per fill.

I would also think that if you turn the boiler stat to the max, the water in the system will get very close to boiling point long before the house heats up to your required temperature. Also it could trip the thermostat high limit button.
Jim.

paula74

thanks everyone for your advice. i only have a 4 bedroom house so its not a mansion... i had a new burner put in about 6months ago when it was serviced.. i think i will have to get someone in to check it out properly. thanks

DublinDilbert

Maybe you have a leak if a new boiler was installed??

landydef

sounds like an oil leak to me although the most efficient way to run your boiler is to turn the stat on the boiler down to between 1/3 and a 1/2 of the output and let the pump do the work {providing the circulation is good}

JamesM

I think that you would know if you had an oil leak - the smell and mess :eek:
You should have the boiler stat about 60c in medium weather and 70c in cold weather.
Jim.

yakyak

paula74 wrote: »

i hope someone out there can give me a bit of advice. i have a firebird boiler and Im putting in about 300euro a month in oil and i had it serviced about 6 months ago. i only have it switched on for an hour in the morning then a about 3 or 4 hours at night, so im not using it constantly.... has anyone any suggestions on what to do next?

HI....FIRST CHECK THE THERMOSTAT ON THE BOILER,IT MUST BE SET AT THE MAXIMUM BY THE SOUNDS OF IT, TURN THE STAT TO 60 DEGREES AND SEE THE DIFFERENCE RIGHT AWAY. IF YOU HAVE STATS ON THE RADIATORS IN THE HOUSE ADJUST TO A COMFORTABLE LEVEL FOR THE ROOMS YOU FREQUENT AND LOWER FOR THE ROOMS YOU DO NOT.

GOOD LUCK.

paula74

thanks guys for all your advice...

Andrea B.

Are you a plumber then Ian?

Gran Hermano

Andrea B. wrote: »

Are you a plumber then Ian?

Reckon he's an ambulance chaser;)

Andrea B.

I love the copyright notice at the bottom of that plumber's website which looks like it is threatening to sue the b*&%^*&* off anyone, should they dare to copy anything off their website.

I'm actually afraid to paste it here as it probably constitutes copying, hence the link.

Imagine if they slipped on your floor while investigating your oil leak??

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ €€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€ ££££££££££££££££££££££££ ding ding ding!

brick100.0118

hi i ran out of oil about six weeks ago, this was the first time in four years that had taken the cover off it , i think i may have bled it out of the wrong place , i think it was the mixture screw , does anyone know how to set this again many rhanks

Gunther_Gloop

Hi,

I know it's been a while, but I'd like to ask the original poster if he/she found a solution.?

I replaced my boiler (after an extension) last May. Since then I've filled the tank three times. This morning it has run out again. This is a 1000 litre tank.
!

I'm fairly sure the oil is not being robbed (the tank is in a quite secluded/hidden place and not easily accessible without being spotted).
I'm sure we'd have some hint of oil smell too if there was a leak.

During the extension, the old boiler house was moved a little further from the house (to back of the garage) and two new rads added (used to be 12 rads, now 14).

Not all rads are on at the same time.

Thing is, we've been trying to use the oil more conservatively. The temperature gauge is set to MINIMUM on the boiler. I've had a stat installed on the water tank to stop that over-heating, sending the oil back to the boiler quicker.

With the old boiler (probably 20 years old) a full tank of oil would last us around 10 months without a thought. With this (condenser) Firebird boiler it seems we're lucky to be getting 2 months. TWO MONTHS!!???

I've had it serviced by a Firebird guy. He replaced the stat on the boiler. That was around 3 weeks ago. Obviously it hasn't made a difference. The rads are quite hot to the touch, despite temperature set to minimum. The boiler guy said new EU regulations meant that 60% temp (I'm paraphrasing?) is the new minimum, whereas before you could set it at any temperature you liked. I think we used to have it around 25% and run it for longer through the day. Why is this no longer an option? 60% seems too hot to me.

I know you might be thinking we have the boiler on all day, but no. I know it's the coldest time of the year, but our usage has decreased from before if anything.

I'm thinking of throwing out this boiler and getting a replacement (different brand obviously). Not that I can afford it. I paid 1200euros for it last May/June. Is it a piece of crap? It certainly seems like the only explanation to me -could it be a dud one ?? Can we get a refund?

cnocbui

The thermostats that are actually on the boiler are too crude to be used to regulate the temperature of the house. AFAIK they are mainly to limit the temperature of the water being circulated so that it does not get too hot.

If you have a dumb mechanical timer that controls the boiler, you will be wasting oil. I replaced the mechanical timer with a proper air temperature sensing thermostat. It includes timer functions as well. It is highly programmable, so you can, for example, set the heating to be on for longer periods on weekends than during the week. For each time period you set the thermostat to the air temperature you want the system to maintain. Strictly speaking, the system is always on, whether the boiler actually lights is determined by the temperature you set for that time period, so setting a daytime temp of 16 usually means it won't switch on, but of course if it is cold enough it will, which you would want anyhow.

The beauty of these controllers is that as the outside temperature varies, and the seasons change, the system only uses as much oil as is required to maintain your set temperature. You never even have to turn the system off, because in summer, it just won't come on because the temperature will be greater than what you have set it for. Actually, last summer there were a couple days that were damn cold and our system did come on briefly.

We have a wood burning stove. It is in a room with doors at both ends so heat generated can percolate through to other parts of the house, including the utility room where the thermostat is located.

Using the stove automatically reduces the amount of oil used because the heat it gives off, raises the air temperature and the thermostat senses this and so doesn't light the boiler unless strictly necessary.

The thermostat cost about €70 and easily more than paid for itself in savings on the first tank full of oil.

This year, from Dec. to mid Feb, we used 13.1 litres of oil per day on average. This is with the coldest winter for some time. For the same period the previous year, we used 11.2 litres a day on average

This to heat a 4 bedroom house to 19 deg in the mornings and evenings.


http://www.heatingcontrolsonline.co.uk/programmable-thermostats-c-21_31.html

Gunther_Gloop

That certainly seems like total sense to me. Thanks cnocbui. Any specific thermostat recommendations?

I was given the number of "a boiler expert -guaranteed to get to the bottom of it" earlier today. Haven't rung him yet. Now I'm wondering if I should buy an air thermostat and wait & see, or probably spend the same amount on this guy who might make this same recommendation in the end. Hmm...

cnocbui

Gunther_Gloop wrote: »

That certainly seems like total sense to me. Thanks cnocbui. Any specific thermostat recommendations?

I was given the number of "a boiler expert -guaranteed to get to the bottom of it" earlier today. Haven't rung him yet. Now I'm wondering if I should buy an air thermostat and wait & see, or probably spend the same amount on this guy who might make this same recommendation in the end. Hmm...

The thermostat I got was a Drayton Digistat 3. I imagine there a numerous alternatives that would be equally good.

http://www.gasapplianceguide.co.uk/drayton_central_heating_controls.htm

If the location of your timer is such that it is not in an ideal location to be sensing the overall heat in the house, there are radio remote models so you can locate the actual thermostat anywhere in the house that is most suitable and the receiver module can be located where the the timer currently is.

We had to replace our boiler a little over a year ago because the old one developed a leak, but the burner was fine so we just swapped that over. The plumber I managed to get hold of to install it really knew his stuff. He had an electronic exhaust gas analyzer and used that to fine tune the burner for optimum efficiency. It had a lambda sensor like those in car engine management systems which was put in the exhaust and gave a readout of unburnt hydrocarbons, exhaust temp etc so the burner could be properly adjusted.

It might be worth inquiring of anyone you are considering to get to have look at your system, whether they have such an instrument to properly tune it with.

A thermostat may not be a panacea if there is a real problem with your installation, but it would not hurt to put one in and see it makes a difference first, as it will provide a long term benefit, even if it turns out there is a problem.

plumber r us

did the plumber set the boiler up on an analyser if he didnt you need it done as the mixture maybe wrong and the exhaust temp may be to high which means you are putting waisted heat up the chimney, a well set up boiler can save you a fortune,

Traditional

hi , have you looked out side at the top of oil burner stack or flue pipe , is ther smoke coming out ? if there is the pump needs to be fine tuned , as it will burn twice as much oil if not tuned right, also you can put in a smaller oil jet , another thing is if there is a build up of carbon in the boiler or flue , are you using kerosene or gas oil ?

plumber r us

may i ask where you live

plumber r us

if you dont have the equipment dont play with the boiler, i go to so meny customers who play with the boiler or there friends do and it can make matters worse,