[bonehead]

I installed this unit a year and a half ago on my hot water boiler and it works great!I'ts not gonna save you a fortune but it's relatively cheap(around $300 installed).It will work with any fuel and even save a little on electricity too.Well worth the money!


www.becketthm.com

[BobWallace]

I have no idea what it costs to run a boiler. Never lived with steam/hot water heat.

Could you give us some idea of what typical heating bills might be?

This device costs ~$300 and saves "at least 10%".

What sort of payback period might typical users expect?

[WatchfulEye]

This seems to be an replacement for the boiler thermostat with less hysteresis. By switching the burner on and off very rapidly, it is supposed to be more efficient.

In practice, I can't believe this would be a good idea because the stress of lighting up/cooling down (short cycling) is a major factor in shortening the life of a boiler. Interestingly, the way it works is to keep the boiler pump running essentially hiding the short cycling.

This is likely only to do much with boilers without adjustable thermostats, without condesning heat exchangers and without modulation.

Modern boilers do all this - in particular, modern boilers modulate - they adjust the flame height to match heat demands automatically. Allowing the boiler to operate continuously at low power when heat demands are low - enhancing efficiency and avoiding the stress of short cycling.

There is another concern, this module needs to be spliced into the boilers internal wiring. This may not be legal in your jurisdiction - certainly, around here, it's strictly forbidden to modify the electrical circuits of a gas appliance in any way.

[bonehead]

Depending on your fuel usage,the payoff could be as little as one year.Basically what happens is when a zone is looking for heat the heat manager will hold off the burner until the heat stored in the boiler(down to 145 degrees) is used up.This heat stored in the boiler winds up going up the chimney when the burner kicks on immediately.Most boilers are not cold start and therefore maintain a constant temp.that can be used up before the burner fires.With today's heating oil and gas prices every little bit helps.

[BobWallace]

A one year return on investment is excellent.

If these things really work then anyone would be foolish to not install one. That would be $300 extra in your pocket (and increasing) every year post payoff.

[bonehead]

I never worried about the legality about the unit because it creates no hazards in that it is wired between itself and the aquastat and i was not required to obtain a permit to have it installed.It is sold by the same manufacturer that makes the oil burners themselves.Geez i sound like a salesman!