BEYOND AFUE’S – TOWARD REAL HYDRONIC (FHW) HEATING EFFICIENCY!

For the past year Mercier Engineering has been immersed in developing and preparing for market it’s Packaged Delta-T Hydronic (FHW) Heating System™, based on our past heating experience projected into the new world of “Delta-T Circulation”. You may have noted our preoccupation with this technology in “The Heating Blog” on our www.boilersondemand.com  website. Time to “put our money where our mouth is”, so to speak. The results of our efforts we deem noteworthy and are initially reflected in this writing.

As the titling of this blog purposely implies, we must get beyond weighing hydronic heating system efficiencies solely upon the boiler’s Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency (AFUE) Rating.  It is only one of multiple elements in an operational formulation that is seldom if ever approached, even more poorly understood, and we allege almost universally misapplied. Strong words which must be tempered by the reality that there has been little market incentive to change our approach to serving the residential FHW heating market in particular; but we ultimately must adapt and change it for the consumer’s benefit.

AFUE is a regulatory, laboratory testing procedure intended to establish an efficiency value for a hydronic (hot water generating) boiler under a defined operating sequence and conditions. It can be presumed that it executes this comparison very effectively, under its terms. However, what it does not measure from our observations is in practice very significant. Specifically these Non-AFUE Test Attributes are:

1. There are no provisions for qualifying or measuring between-cycle “stand-by” or “idle-time” losses. This is the time between burner firing cycles when the boiler is prone to radiated energy and convective exhaust (flue) losses, presumed to be non-productive.
2. Similarly, the testing is “steady-state” in execution, providing no qualification or quantification of individual boiler attributes that may contribute to site application efficiency.

These test attribute observations have been borne out in field applications, where system performances have not correlated well, boiler-to-boiler or system-to-system. To further complicate this is the variability of physicals to each application, however subtle. The forums and blog sites are rife with these seemingly “apples-to-oranges” commentaries. Our developmental efforts may be able to provide some explanations.

From our observations there are necessarily five (5) elements contributing to total system energy efficiency:

1. The boiler (heat engine) energy conversion efficiency or AFUE.
2. The physical attributes of the specific boiler complimentary to system operation.
3. The energy required to move heated water through the distribution system (radiation).
4. The effective matching of radiation elements to heating demand.
5. The control algorithm(s) to match energy creation with varying system demands.

Our initial efforts have been with oil-fired hydronic systems and is the focus of this document, with gas-fired and solid-fuel applications to follow as resources permit. However, much of this effort is applicable as the basis of other heating systems.

Varying the output (energy creation rate) of any heating resource is paramount. This has been readily achieved in gas-fired boilers by “modulating” combustion with sophisticated valving and controls. Typically they adjust from 20 to 100% of capacity, from “idle” to “full speed” to use the automotive analogy. However, direct modulation of oil-fired systems is not feasible using current technologies. A fixed (capacity) firing rate via pressurized, nozzle induced fuel atomization is the norm. Therefore, the only option is to adjust the operating temperature of an oil-fired hydronic boiler via controls to compliment heating demand. This is reasonably well-managed with modern “cold-start” aquastats, external temperature sensors, etc.

The prior unaddressed penalty to particularly residential hydronic systems has been the toll on equipment and electrical energy requirements of circulating heating water with fixed-speed circulators. They are notoriously and arguably universally misapplied and inefficient in practice. Reducing water temperatures merely aggravates the situation by prolonging circulator cycling.

Fortunately technology has come to the rescue in the form of the “Delta-T” Circulator, now becoming very applicable and affordable to the residential/light commercial markets. The undisputed pioneer and flag-bearer in this market is the Taco Viridian VT2218 found at this link: http://flopro.taco-hvac.com/media/Viridian_VT2218_100-114.pdf  To use the quote “This changes everything” is not an exaggeration! The Viridian is in fact the second generation, replacing the entry product Taco “BumbleBee” found at this link: http://www.taco-hvac.com/uploads/FileLibrary/100-101.pdf We mention the “BumbleBee” only because it has rapidly become a “cult product” in the HVAC Community, somewhat akin to the “Trekkies”. It was our initial “new tool” in developing and thence refining our product(s). Like our brothers, we hate to see it go as we move to the refined and more sophisticated “Viridian”.

Referring back to our five (5) elements to total system efficiency, Delta-T Circulation is number three (3) on the list but is deservedly and necessarily the foundation of any hydronic system improvement. Taco reports system Delta-T Circulator-only swaps yielding 15% fuel usage reductions. It is the keystone of our Packaged Delta-T Hydronic (FHW) Heating System™, and should be the first improvement to any system! We caution however that this will require substantial near-boiler system re-piping and your installer must be knowledgeable. It is discouraging to note how few of our fellow tradesmen are cognizant of Delta-T or have used it beyond a radiant heat loop. We “Old Dogs must learn new tricks”, and we have!

The second element of import is the necessity to employ “Cold-Start” Boiler/Aquastat Hydronic Technology, which overlaps Nos. 2 and 5 in our list. We are unabashed in our praise of the Hydrolevel 3250-Plus “Fuel Smart” Aquastat, found at this link: http://www.hydrolevel.com/new/images/literature/sales_sheets/fuel_smart_hydrostat_sales_sheet.pdf   It is now standard equipment on all our Weil-McLain Ultra Oil Boilers, and none too soon! The inter-action of the 3250-Plus with the VT2218 Circulator’s operational software is paramount to total system performance, as we have learned.

Note: “Cold-Start” Technology applies to “heat-only” boilers. DHW (Domestic Hot Water) must be effected by an external Indirect Water Heater or another dedicated appliance. We combine the Indirect Water Heater in our design for optimized Heat and DHW Generation.

Element 3: Our development indicates individual boiler attributes are significant. Specifically,

1. Boiler supply and return tap placements are crucial to system “packaging”, i.e. the ability to compactly (efficiently) structure near-boiler piping. (We can pipe into a space as close as 11″ from the chimney, with all piping and controls behind the boiler, yet readily accessible.)
2. A very high boiler mass (weight) for its capacity, i.e. for both thermal damping and storage.
3. Favorable exchanger flue passage routing and exhausting.
4. Burner type to compliment its attributes.

The noted attributes lead us to our “Boiler-of-Choice”, the Weil-McLain Ultra Oil Series with the Beckett NX Burner. Refer to this link for detail: http://www.weil-mclain.com/en/assets/pdf/Ultra%20Oil%20Brochure_8%20Pg_web1.pdf   We have had “conventional” system design and installation experience with this boiler for over ten years now, with only one “no heat” service call, a failed aquastat. Weil-McLain has since upgraded it to the Hydrolevel 3250-Plus, thank God!

The Beckett NX Burner has been likewise flawless in operation. Literally a “plug and play”. Its dual vent typing capability (direct & chimney) has proven beneficial to problematic venting applications, especially when encountering “cold chimneys” in our northern climate. Fully exposed exterior chimneys are sure to give a rough startup without utilizing its pre-purging and pressure firing features.

The key attribute to system performance outside of Delta-T Distribution has proven to be Thermal Mass (Storage) provided by the sheer robustness (weight) of the Weil-McLain UO Series High-Mass, Triple-Pass Boilers. They are “The Heavyweight Champions” by far and as a result exhibit lower mean boiler operating temperatures and very less frequent burner cycling.

As a matter of policy we do not cite or criticize our competitors, but we must make a single attribute comparison to emphasize our point. The approximate block weights of the top hydronic (approx. 100KBTUH, 87% AFUE) oil boilers are:

Radiation (Element 4) efficiency is the remaining, but least controllable variable in a heating system. It is substantially outside the scope of our system application, yet there are some performance elements we can address.

Existing hydronic radiation:

1. Removal of unnecessary valving in zone supplies and returns. All zone supply functions are integrated into our system package.
2. Zone interconnection and functionality can be optimized by correct pipe sizing and routing. It confounds us as to why some plumbers use virtually no 45° fittings! You can use 3-4 of them vs. a 90° elbow for the same flow resistance, and only 70% of the pipe required for a 90° elbow routing.

New hydronic radiation:

The contemporary approach to radiation varies widely, from simple radiation loop(s) for zoned heated areas to individually heated rooms throughout. The more finite the control, the more piping, fittings and control valving, the more hydronic distribution energy is required.

Ironically, the same Delta-T Circulator Technology we employ to maximize our system performance has preceded us and become the darling in particularly radiant system applications. We have also employed them in these and they perform admirably. They reduce the energy requirements significantly but yet still camouflage that basic issue.

If your concern is total energy consumption of a system, we would invite you to consider using less sophisticated radiation distribution schemes. A properly designed, installed and balanced series or split piping loop exudes simplicity and will likely be a lower installed cost. The KISS Principle applies — keep it simple ….. (Refer to our Heating Blog Library for additional detail.)

To Summarize:

1. Additional Boiler Attributes are important, beyond the AFUE Rating. In particular heat exchanger thermal mass (weight) will lengthen service life while minimizing repair costs. Burner attributes related to exhausting and tuning must also be considered.
2. Delta-T ECM Hydronic Distribution Technology is key to improving any system’s energy performance, both heating fuel and electrical power consumption.
3. Inter-related “intelligent” controls determine system operational performance. They are currently the Hydrolevel 3250-Plus Boiler Aquastat and the Taco VT2218 Delta-T Circulator Logic.
4. Near-boiler plumbing in particular affects system performance. This is optimized in our system piping configuration to include fail-safe “natural gravity convection”.
5. Interconnections between our system zone access points to existing radiation must be executed with the goal of minimizing flow anomalies.
6. Existing and/or new radiation installations must likewise be executed by idealizing flow conditions inasmuch as possible.

References:
We strongly recommend referring to Taco’s website link http://flopro.taco-hvac.com/deltat_resources.html and refer to the various Delta-T resources therein. There’s a volume of resources here that will properly inform you of this new technology and its place in your Hydronic (FHW) Heating System.

Author’s Note: Hyperlinks updated 08/27/2019