The home heating oil industry has a long and proud history, and Fuel Oil News has been there supporting it since 1935. It is an industry that has faced many challenges during that time. In its 77th year, Fuel Oil News is doing more than just holding
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www.fueloilnews.com | FUEL OIL NEWS | NOVEMBER 2016 37 We have designed and installed sev- eral oil-fired r T-based distribution systems, initially using Taco's earliest ECM-powered circs, and more recently the VT2218 circulator, coupled with Zone Sentry zone valves. We've monitored and serviced them for about two years. They all live in variously-sized and aged single-fam- ily homes, from a 1,300-sq-ft, 50-year-old seasonal house to a 2,800-sq-ft, 10-year-old home. All of the systems are identically- sized and similarly configured within our 7,000+ degree-day New Hampshire zone. I'll note that there's an on-going discus- sion within our trade community about AFUE, particularly in what these ratings do not measure related to system perfor- mance. "Idle time" or "stand-by" losses are logically presumed to be non-contributory and detractive. Focusing only on boiler AFUE as an accurate depiction of system efficiency is fundamentally flawed. AFUE is only one of many indications of system performance. Most heating systems are affected by a wide range of variables. We also learn, by reading about how these tests are performed, that accu- racy is very difficult to achieve, so we've done some research of our own. And, yes—inconsistency plagues even the best attempts to achieve accuracy; we con- firmed it through our own field tests. From our observations, there are five key factors that contribute to total system energy efficiency: 1. The boiler (heat engine) energy con- version efficiency or AFUE. 2. The physical attributes of the specific boiler complimentary to system operation. 3. Efficiently moving heated water to the zone distribution point(s). 4. The effective matching of radiation factors to heating demand. 5. The control algorithm(s) to match Left to right: Mercier sets the Delta-T differential on the system circ, a Taco VT2218; the circulator is mounted close to a Zone Sentry zone valve that serves an indirect heater for domestic hot water; a Taco 4900 Series air separator and the Zone Sentry zone valves scrub, and govern flow for the home's two hydronic zones; Mercier's high-mass system, meets the "common sense" hydronic heat and domestic water needs for New England families.