Do you have yyour heating on yet !!!

[gatesmr2]

Ok

Been reading through a few posts and seen a couple of comments about heating being off still :shock:
Is it just me being a southern softie but mines been on for a couple of weeks now ?? admittedly quite low.

Just curious


Martin

 

[motownmartin]

You are not alone, mines been on a few weeks, my Daughter is doing most of her studying at home and needs to be warm just sitting by her computer or reading a book all day

 

[RogerS]

We only have it on (16 degrees!) in the evening and maybe for a quick burst in the morning. I do want to digest the other thread though as Mike Garnham has put a lot of good info there. Otherwise we use log fires and localised electric heating in the room that we're in.

Trying to decide whether it's worth having the oil burner serviced or not. Not much to go wrong with it and it was done last year.

 

[Cowboy _Builder]

We didn't bother with heating last year and probably won't bother this year unless it drops really cold around Jan or Feb ,then only at night for a couple of hrs .....

 

[Evergreen]

Yes, I've given way to pressure from the female members of the household and conceded to having the central heating on briefly in the mornings and evenings.

I tried the old "nobody had central heating or double glazing or insulation in my younger day, we were glad to suffer from hypothermia" argument but it didn't work. I think you need to put on three sweaters before you put on the central heating but I'm outnumbered.

When I'm on my own, I wear a hat in the house - very effective for keeping warm!

 

[Hitch]

Started off with small heater in our daughters room about a month ago, shes only 3.
Then progressed to small night storage in the hallway last week, then onto hallway and landing, and Thursday the night storage in the living room went on.

All our energy is Electric, bill is about £48/month, balaced out over the year.

 

[RogerS]

....

When I'm on my own, I wear a hat in the house - very effective for keeping warm!

Doesn't your todger get cold ? :wink: :lol:

 

[Peter T]

Do you have yyour heating on yet?..............................YYES

 

[Rich]

We only have it on (16 degrees!) in the evening and maybe for a quick burst in the morning. I do want to digest the other thread though as Mike Garnham has put a lot of good info there. Otherwise we use log fires and localised electric heating in the room that we're in.

Trying to decide whether it's worth having the oil burner serviced or not. Not much to go wrong with it and it was done last year.

Unlike GAS fired appliances, oil burners are recommended to be serviced twice yearly.

Rich.

 

[RogerS]

We only have it on (16 degrees!) in the evening and maybe for a quick burst in the morning. I do want to digest the other thread though as Mike Garnham has put a lot of good info there. Otherwise we use log fires and localised electric heating in the room that we're in.

Trying to decide whether it's worth having the oil burner serviced or not. Not much to go wrong with it and it was done last year.

Unlike GAS fired appliances, oil burners are recommended to be serviced twice yearly.

Rich.

Any idea why, Rich?

 

[lurker]

Me & my lad spent 20 minutes with the chain saw attacking the "wood pile" (all free wood that was destined for landfill :lol: :lol: )
Thats the next 2 weeks worth of wood cut & ready.

I already have a "log pound" (about 6 weeks worth of logs) that I've cut over the summer.

That keeps our lounge fire blazing for 6 hours weekdays & 10 hours weekends. Central heating is just at low for background comfort.

 

[Jenx]

Unlike GAS fired appliances, oil burners are recommended to be serviced twice yearly.

Only if they're on Gas Oil ( 35 Second Oil or Red Deisel )... if they're on Kero ( 28 sec ), - once a year.... for Pressure-jet atomisers.
( with the exception of the awful Harcol 430 Boiler, which fired downwards vertically into the combustion chamer, and was a stupid design in the first place, and needs attended to, every 4 weeks )

Twice a year if its a Rotary or Fan-assisted Vapouriser on kero.. but there's precious few of "them old monsters" in existence nowadays.
:wink:

For yer AGA's / Rayburns / Esse's etc.. ( i.e. O/F Cookers with the 'wicks' in them.. ) aye, twice a year.

 

[Rich]

We only have it on (16 degrees!) in the evening and maybe for a quick burst in the morning. I do want to digest the other thread though as Mike Garnham has put a lot of good info there. Otherwise we use log fires and localised electric heating in the room that we're in.

Trying to decide whether it's worth having the oil burner serviced or not. Not much to go wrong with it and it was done last year.

Unlike GAS fired appliances, oil burners are recommended to be serviced twice yearly.

Rich.

Any idea why, Rich?

Depending on the weather, the more the burner cuts in and out the more the chance of carbon build up between the ignition electrodes, most people would'nt realise what that means and it is VERY easy to rectify with the aid of an half inch paint brush stroked between the electrode ends, an oil engineer would probably charge you in the region of about £80.00 for rectifying that, (outrageous) for 5 mins work, as Jenx has rightly said most oil fired boilers use gas oil (28 seconds) and that burns nice and cleanly when it atomises but it does'nt need to be too clean as it won't fire on a damp morning, I generally set them up so that a "wisp" of smoke is coming out of the flue terminal, for those still using 35 second oil, then definitely twice yearly service, it's like treacle, compared to 28 seconds, (kerosene).

Rich.

 

[MikeG.]

For anybody who hasn't read the other thread on this topic, I will answer the thread title directly...........no, my heating hasn't come on yet, probably won't come on for another 2 or 3 weeks or more, and our house temperature is still 21 degrees day and night. My total heating bill for the year will be less than Hitch's bill for a month, and my house will never fall below 19 degrees, at all, ever.

I'm consious of the potential to bore to tears on the subject, and I'm also consious that not everyone has the opportunity of building their own house, so all I would suggest is that anyone who is interested in low-energy housing could explore the Centre for Alternative Technology website (www.cat.org ,I think), or visit them in Macchynlleth North Wales, or message me.

Mike

 

[wizer]

I don't find it boring Mike. It's true most of us won't get to build our own house and adding insulation to our houses can not only be costly but difficult. I am now armed with the knowledge of what I need to do. But I can't afford to do it all at once for a couple of reasons. Money and Health. Over the next couple of years I will work on adding insulation, replacing the double glazing and fixing the plumbing so that the house begins to run more efficient.

 

[Jenx]

the more the chance of carbon build up between the ignition electrodes, most people would'nt realise what that means and it is VERY easy to rectify with the aid of an half inch paint brush stroked between the electrode ends, an oil engineer would probably charge you in the region of about £80.00 for rectifying that, (outrageous) for 5 mins work,

Heh heh, depends on the Combustion Engineer concerned :wink:
Most of us do it for nothing and tell the gaffer " It was workin' fine by the time I got there "

Oil burners are a 'caker' to set up though....
Roger, if your at all concerned, whip your burner out ( make sure the power is isolated of course, take the draught-tube off the front and wipe down the electrodes to clean them up a bit ...
( take care not to wipe over the front of the nozzle though, as its easy to case miniscule damage to the tiny orifice which creates the correct atomised spray pattern & angle for that particular combustion box ),

...pull out the photocell, and make sure the sighting glass on it is clean,

.... give the flame-retarder ring around the nozzle a wee clean-up, and ensure the sighting-hole that the photocell 'see' through, if there is one, is unobstructed

... and have a wee look into the firebox itself to make sure there's no soot deposits or carbon build-up .. if you can 'go in' from the top and remove & check the baffleplates etc, even better.
( soot is a fabulous insulator and cuts the efficiency down in the 'heat exchage process tremendously )

If you want to change the nozzle itself, fair enough.. your could get one from your local 'Controls Center' or similar, make sure to get the right USGPM and Spray Angle ( its stamped on the spanner-flats on the nozzle itself ) and they just screw in.. no washers or anything, but be careful of the little sintered filter on the back of them.. the new one will have one already fitted but careful & not damage it....
If you do change it out.. the flame-retarder and electrodes will need to come off, make sure you re-fit in the same position, as that is how you alter / set up part of the 'combustion' -- i.e. comissioning it to run correctly ....

And if your happy doing so.. take the burner controlbox cover off, and check all connections in the wiring base are tight,
Then take the motor off, exposing the fan, and clean the fanblades out.. the 'curvature' of the blading on a centrifugal fan has a tendency to accumulate dust and 'flatten out' the curve of the blades, which makes the fan effectively 'stall' and not deliver nearly the correct amount of air, which will lead to a poor 'burn', and subsequent sooting. ( this problem is universally worsened when there are dogs in the house. )

Pump pressure on Kero will be about 135psi ( about 145 - 150 on Gas Oil 35 sec )
Shell Smoke number 0-1
Co2 reading - 9%
Flue Gas Temp - will vary accoring to your fluing arrangement.
(any readings & set-up should be done with the machine having 'run' a good 20 minutes... it'll take that long to get proper heat into the flue etc, and she'll nae run right until she's hot ! -- not that its noticeable to a 'general householder', but its got to be up to temperature before its running at its best... thats the flue & combustion chamber, NOT the water side of things i mean. )


May sound a bit 'frightening, but honestly - its a breeze.

As a final check after re-assembling everything... fire the burner, and pull the photocell out and cover it in your hand, ensuring the machine runs to 'lockout'.... this tests that the photocell/controlbox are functioning correctly.

Casing wiped down with a wee drop of Flash & Bob's your uncle. :wink: 8)

 

[MikeG.]

Tom,

sod the money......health is priceless. Hope you are sorted soon (but breathing in fibreglass dust isn't good for anyones health, so take care when you get around to doing the job).

Mike

 

[Jake]

.no, my heating hasn't come on yet, probably won't come on for another 2 or 3 weeks or more, and our house temperature is still 21 degrees day and night. My total heating bill for the year will be less than Hitch's bill for a month, and my house will never fall below 19 degrees, at all, ever.

I'm consious of the potential to bore to tears on the subject, and I'm also consious that not everyone has the opportunity of building their own house

I doubt you are boring anyone, and if you are - so what! And if we can't, we can dream of doing so.

How does the 21C come about? Interested because I'd find that uncomfortable especially at night - is there a way of 'setting' that at less with more air changes,reducing solar gain or something?

 

[Rich]

Jenx, if you are advocating that Roger services his own oil fired burner, then I think you are wrong, as with corgi, you need to be trained and competent to carry out a service, I would'nt carry out electrical installations nor lay bricks, horses for courses, that's why I underwent an apprenticeship in the 60's, another reason why I have NEVER been out of work, also I don't think that Roger would be willing to shell out £300.00 for a combustion analyser, having said that I appreciate that under the present economic circumstances, a lot of bods will be driven to carry out their own diy repairs, therein lies the problem, whereby a little knowledge can be dangerous.

Regards,

Rich.

 

[Jenx]

Not really "advocating" it Rich, no ....
But also by the same token.. the 'thought process' was intended from the 'needs must' camp.

Gas is a different matter and carrys legally binding obligations concerning competency.. Oil isn't as dangerous, and doesn't carry legal obligations on the part of anyone working on the equipment as a direct reflection of not being so.
With Gas.. No Corgi registration ( ACOPS 'as was ' ) - then 'no touchie'. You cannot produce Carbon Monoxide from an oil burner, and whilst I take your point, where would you draw the line ? Stopping people from fitting a plug ? Changing their own light bulbs ?
Service their own car or motorcycle ? :? Hardly !


I didn't serve my time as a turner... yet I'm playing with a dangerous piece of machinery that could potentially cause me some serious harm... but I'm reasonably safe in doing so, basically because I'm fortunate enough not to be an silly person.
And Fully legally, i hasten to add.

I'd take a reasonable guess that Roger posesses enough competency and sensibility not to hurt himself, and if a person didn't feel confident or competent to carry out a task thats perfectly legal to do, then by all means - avoid doing so.
Call someone in, pay the going rate, and thats fair enough.

If we take your thinking to the 'nth degree'... nobody will be able to do anything that they've not been certificated for, trained for, signed off on, etc etc, and when that day comes ( and I think it may indeed do so ), the world will become a poorer place for it.

This country was built on 'Garden Shed Engineering', and thinking such as yours will see to it that this is killed off very quickly.
Your wrong Lad.

8)