Making the switch from oil-fired to a pellet-fired boiler

During the last two years I have been reviewing submittals for proposed heating systems using pellet-fired boilers. They come from heating professionals ranging from installers to professional engineers. These submittals are required to participate in a state incentive program that offers significant rebates to encourage growth of the biomass heating market.

My task is to review the proposed systems for technical details, and flag possible issues for clarification or redesign, before thousands of dollars of hardware gets installed incorrectly.

One of the commonalities of these submittals is that many designers view pellet-fired boilers as simply a “box” that burns pellets and makes hot water. They want to set that box next to an existing oil-fired or propane-fired boiler, and just cut it into the existing distribution system. They seldom look at that existing distribution system as fertile ground for not only improving the performance of that new pellet-burning “box,” but also improving the comfort provided by the system.

The following is a discussion about a “make over” of an existing oil-fired hydronic heating system chosen to receive a modern pellet-fired boiler. This makeover shows one way to integrate that new boiler so that its unique operating characteristics are respected. It also shows how the “comfort challenged” heat delivery system was improved at the same time.

Figure 1 Original system

This makeover is based on a real installation. It took place in a 1800s vintage farmhouse in a cold upstate New York location. Figure 1 shows a piping schematic of the original system.

The oil-fired boiler supplies a single distribution circuit that serves a combination of fin-tube baseboard, standing cast-iron radiators, and some cast-iron baseboard. (Yes, someone really put all those different heat emitters together on a single circuit). The heat emitters are connected to the piping circuit using diverter tees.

In an interview prior to the makeover, the homeowner stated that there were several “cold spots” in the house. In some cases cold enough to freeze a glass of water left on the kitchen floor during a cold winter night. Ouch!

GOING UNDER THE KNIFE

The primary goal of the makeover was to reduce heating cost by adding a modern pellet-fired boiler to the system and treating it as the primary heat source. The oil-fired boiler would remain in the system as the “auxiliary” heat source. The intent was to configure the oil-fired boiler to automatically operate if the new pellet-fired boiler was unable to supply the load, or was out of service.

At the time of the makeover, heat supplied from the new pellet-fired boiler would be about half the cost of heat supplied by burning fuel oil. However, those cheaper Btus were not going to allow the marginal hydronic distribution system to improve the home’s comfort. This is where the scope of the makeover changed from simply reducing operating cost to also providing significantly improved comfort.

The rationale behind this makes sense: since the system would be undergoing significant hydronic “surgery” to add the new boiler, why not take opportunity to upgrade the home’s comfort by adding some more heat emitters while the system is on the operating table?

An easy way to do this was to install a manifold station in the basement and use it along with ?” PEX-AL-PEX tubing, to supply panel radiators that would be placed in the areas where comfort was marginal. The panel rads could be different sizes to match the supplemental heating needs and available wall space in the cold areas. The manifold station would include two additional connections, which were to be closed off initially, but easily accessible if the system was ever further expanded.

Beyond improved comfort, the added heat emitters would lower the water temperature at which the distribution system could supply design heating load. A suggested guideline is to add enough heat emitters to reduce the supply water temperature at design load conditions by at least 30F (that is, from 180F on an existing system to 150F on the modified system). This allows the thermal storage tank, which is an integral part of the pellet-fired boiler retrofit, to operate over a wider temperature cycling range. The result is reduced on/off cycling, which yields higher thermal efficiency and lower emissions.

DON’T “SWEAT” EITHER BOILER

Another suggested guideline is to limit the added heat emitters so that the return water temperature to the oil-fired boiler stays above 120F most of the time. This should be sufficient to prevent sustained flue gas condensation within the oil-fired boiler.

Figure 2 System with thermostatic boiler protection

If the return water temperature was going to be consistently below 120F, as it might be if a large area of radiant panel heating were added to the system, it is prudent to add a thermostatic boiler protection valve as shown in Figure 2. This valve limits flow through the oil-fired boiler, when necessary, to keep it from operating with sustained flue gas condensation. With this valve in place, along with another anti-condensation valve for the pellet-fired boiler, the return water temperature from the distribution system can be as low as you want it.

THE MAKEOVER

Figure 3 shows the modified system, which now includes the pellet-fired boiler and thermal storage tank along with some other piping modifications.

Figure 3 Modified system

This reconfiguration allows either the thermal storage tank, or the existing oil-fired boiler to deliver heated water to the closely-spaced tees that hydraulically separate circulators (P2) and (P3) from the zone circulators. It also allows the oil-fired boiler to be isolated from heated water when it is not being used, which should be most of the time now that the pellet-fired boiler is installed. This is important because allowing heated water to flow through an unfired boiler just dissipates heat through that boiler’s jacket and up its flue.

The pellet-fired boiler is regulated by its own internal controller, which monitors the temperature of two temperature sensors (S1 and S2) within the thermal storage tank. When the temperature at the upper sensor (S1) drops to some lower setpoint (such as 140F) the pellet boiler fires. It remains in operation until the temperature at the lower sensor (S2) has climbed to some high temperature limit (such as 170F). This stacks the tank full of hot water before the boiler is turned off. The objective is to create long on-cycles followed by long off-cycles, which increases the overall burn cycle efficiency of the boiler and reduces its emissions. The control operation takes place 24/7 whenever the pellet boiler is powered on. It is completely independent of the other system controls.

The controller within the pellet-fired boiler used in this system also operates a motorized three-way mixing valve between the boiler and thermal storage tank. This valve’s purpose is to keep the boiler’s inlet water temperature above the dewpoint of the combustion gases (about 130F) whenever possible, and thus prevent sustained flue gas condensation.

BASIC BRAINS

The control system that manages overall system operation can be simple. Whenever there is a demand for space heating or domestic water heating, power is applied to a temperature setpoint controller, which measures the water temperature in the upper portion of the thermal storage tank at sensor (S3). If that temperature is at or above some minimum value (such as 140F) circulator (P2) is turned on, and heat is supplied from the tank to the load. If the water temperature in the upper portion of the tank is below this setpoint, circulator (P2) is off and the oil-fired boiler is turned on along with circulator (P3). If the temperature at the top of the thermal storage tank later rises to the minimum setpoint plus a differential of 10F (in this case 140+10=150F), the setpoint controller brings the tank back online as the sole heat source.

The new circulator that supplies the manifold station is wired in parallel with the original zone circulator supplying the space heating distribution system. This ensures adequate flow and head to handle the new panel radiators.

This is a relatively simple makeover scheme that is repeatable on many “typical” existing hydronic heating systems with a convention oil-fired or propane-fired boiler and fin-tube baseboard heat emitters. It allows the pellet-fired boiler to manage itself using its own internal controls, which act independently of the other system controls. It also addresses the need for improved comfort versus just shifting heat production from oil to pellets. The added heat emitters will also put an end to those frozen glasses of water on the kitchen floor.

John Siegenthaler, P.E., is a mechanical engineering graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a licensed professional engineer. He has over 34 years experience in designing modern hydronic heating systems. Siegenthaler’s latest book, Heating with Renewable Energy, was released recently (see www.hydronicpros.com for more information).