Oil Heat 🔥 Boilers - How it works - Understand the Basics

Learn more about your oil heat hydronic heating boiler system, boilers & how it works showing hot water components zone controls & troubleshooting basics - Great for new homeowner
Good for new homeowner's who want to understand the components of their heating system
I hope you find this video helpful.
Please comment and subscribe
Disclaimer:
Due to factors beyond the control of Silver Cymbal, I cannot guarantee against improper use or unauthorized modifications of this information. Silver Cymbal assumes no liability for property damage or injury incurred as a result of any of the information contained in this video. Use this information at your own risk. Silver Cymbal recommends safe practices when working on machines and or with tools seen or implied in this video. Due to factors beyond the control of Silver Cymbal, no information contained in this video shall create any expressed or implied warranty or guarantee of any particular result. Any injury, damage, or loss that may result from improper use of these tools, equipment, or from the information contained in this video is the sole responsibility of the user and not Silver Cymbal.

[@SilverCymbal]

Thanks for watching - If this video was helpful please give it a thumbs up and subscribe to learn about my next videos!

[@frank-vy9xe]

I enjoy all your videos. This happened up in the county it was thought too much oil was pumped into the furnace. Who knows cause the dryer oven and hot water was propane.

[@brettmoore3194]

You could save on oil by increasing you total hot water storage by double.

[@WorldArtToursnet]

Thanks. Informative!

[@experimentchannel9692]

This video is 3 years old but I was wondering if you could do a video on conversions people have done to run Beckett burners on waste vegetable oil, Beckett also makes one that can run on biodiesel...

[@hecatombehot1]

Clear video and perfect sound. No background annoying music. Perfect!

[@SilverCymbal]

Glad you found it helpful and thank you for the kind comments. I have many more heating and plumbing videos coming so please subscribe if you haven't already so you can see them. Best wishes to you.

[@bunnypeople]

I wouldn't say perfect. There's a clicking sound at the end of nearly every word that's driving me mad.

[@jochimbenschneider1915]

Yes thanks. I hate the stupid drama music and ridiculous stuff some do.

[@jonkirkwood469]

Thanks, Silver. Old nuclear navy Machinists Mate and mechanical engineer, here. Love your content. Won't touch control systems. A man's got to know his limitations. But, I really like the way your HVAC guy installed the ersatz zone control. I've had two houses with oil-hot water systems, with domestic coils. I love the way they heat the house. My current system is about 50 years old. I had to replace the Beckett burner and expansion tank two years ago and installed missing baffles. The system is generally bullet proof. I took the system to parade rest and replaced anything with marginal performance a few weeks ago. The old system is burning at 87.8% efficiency now. The baffles seemed to have the most impact on efficiency, but I can't prove it. Turbulent flow vs. laminar flow in the heat exchanger makes sense. My house sat unoccupied for nearly ten years before I bought it. It took a year to get all the air out of the system. I put auto-vents on each baseboard radiator, but the expansion tank and air separator are in the basement like yours. And, the expansion tank was filled. High point vents are the way to go. If I build another house, I will have a loop and expansion volume in an upstairs closet. But once vented, the system is nearly silent. A little thermal ticking and that's about it. I cycle the auto-fill valve each spring. Before I installed a water softener (another good Silver Cymbal video), scale would wreck the valve. I replaced the boiler relief valve two years ago, too, Justin Case. I check the exhaust damper periodically, too. I noticed exhaust odor once and discovered the counter-weight had fallen off. The back pressure in the flue caused a puff of exhaust each time the furnace ignited. I found the weight and screw and balanced the flue again. Used a little Locktite, too. I use a brush and ShopVac to clean the radiators on a rotating basis. (PMS Schedule) I have CO detectors in the basement and in the room directly above the boiler.

[@peterdirceu9397]

The world need more people like you!!you're a very special guy God bless my friend!!and thanks a million!!

[@SilverCymbal]

Thank you for the kind comment, glad it was helpful

[@PJam2019]

I used this video as a learning resource when I first started in HVAC (In NH like yourself). Now I'm well versed in oil service, in part thanks to you!

[@usaryder74]

Thank you for this video. Who ever moves to the north or a new house that has this type of system; should watch it. Very helpful. My boiler system is not so elaborate, but not only I understand it better, but I also learned about other components out there. I will check out your other videos. I don't why some people would dislike this video. It is genuine, simple and honest.

[@RiceRyder]

Thank you! Coming from a Gas force hot and Central air to an oil burner, this video is gold!!!

[@mcknightiii]

Just bought a home with oil and couldn’t figure out anything. Watched this and followed along and now I have a good understanding of how it works and where the different functions are. Thank you saved me hundreds by not having to call someone out!

[@MyTho.1]

This is the best source of info for the oil burner system I have found. Very concisely and detailed information. Thank you!

[@robertgrande4512]

Really well done... we have oil-fired forced air furnace but my in-laws have an oil-fired boiler that needs to be replaced and I am helping them select a vendor. This provided great background on the fundamentals. Thank you!

[@SilverCymbal]

Thank you very much. More heating videos coming up soon too.

[@pdubs7069]

You are the best!! Im in Hartford County and I'm new to oil heat, I too have a Beckett but not as many fancy plugs etc that you have... thanks so much for all your videos!! Im learning more & more with each video I watch!!

[@NorthWoodMouse]

Newer to New England and a first time homebuyer closing in January LOL so thank you this beautifully detailed walk through!!

[@SilverCymbal]

Glad it was helpful!

[@aguilarnico]

Thanks a lot for putting this video together. It was very well explained and it really gave me a better perspective of what is happening beyond the multiple pipes, valves, etc...which was like a black box for me before your video. Thanks!

[@SilverCymbal]

Glad it helped. Years ago I was the same when looking at the system. It's hard to get anyone to explain it all. Thank you for watching.

[@richardllanos6686]

Thank you very much. This was super helpful. I recently purchased my first home in New England moved from the Caribbean. So I really had no idea what I was looking at. Thank you again.

[@BlueBlazer47]

Very good, thank you. When we had oil-fired central heating in the '60s/'70s (in England), our tank was in the garden - a big metal container, painted green. It was under a fir tree, so we had to take care that the fir parts didn't get in through the fill-cap area. Good to know about the safety devices. I once went inside a large house where there'd been a fire. The oil-fired boiler had been completely untouched.

[@planemanx15]

I’m considering replacing my 35+ year old boiler myself and this video is a great tutorial on the basics of each part. Thank you!

[@miguelperdomo786]

How did it go

[@ChuckFrenchNH]

👍 I have 50+ yrs as home owner with basic furnace knowledge. I found this very helpful for new owner & appreciate you instructing not to fool with devices, but contact professional. 😷 My interest is understanding home owner servicing occasionally leaky OTP Valve. I turn off main water supply & trigger valve couple times, collecting very dirty water. If that doesn't stop leak, time to call PROFESSIONAL ! 😷

[@dipseadiver]

Your video has been a great help in aiding me with identification of the various components of my system and what they do. Exactly what I was looking for. Thank you.

[@BioshockChicken]

I’ve been an HVAC service tech for a little over a month, no formal training. My company is one of the only ones in the area that still services oil. I’ve seen enough gas furnaces and heat pumps to where I’m getting comfortable with them, but a nice, concise overview on oil is well appreciated!

[@jlo13800]

according to Saquan Barkley here how it works with a 460VAC iron fireman unit! a puff of fuel oil, water vapor or air nucleui gets in oscillation with the 23 kv ignition transformer and swings back and forth with the electric field! this taps ZPE which swings them faster and faster! This emits a big gamma ray photon which suprheats metal around it. eventually the nucleuii and electrons speed off and find the motor magnetic field which acts as a gyrotron and that electromagnetic scalar ZPE can be further beamed into the boiler to heat it even more tapping more ZPE, the fuel oil valve can now be shut closed and it keeps on going forever spewing out circular polarized elecrtomagnetic radiation, fuel oil is just an ellusion and is just a start thing to get the burner to get the burner really going! the electromagnetic kickback can even trip the breaker to the burner accelerator

[@jlo13800]

saquan barkley noticed both ignition fuses blown and the the 460v primary circuit arc right thru the fuse gap!

[@rosswilliams3111]

Thanks for the video and the time you took to make it. Just purchased a house with fuel oil. Much appreciated video.

[@SilverCymbal]

Thank you so much for the nice comment and kind words.

[@bhabi7071]

Excellent. Thank you. Clear. No nonsense. On point. Well done 👍

[@brianr797]

Great video as a homeowner I feel like going to Harbor Freight grabbing some tools and a tool pouch and starting an oil repair business!!!👍

[@donnyaldridge6452]

I bought a Spirit low boy Oil Furnace last year..Love it and it has these newer Beckett AFG Burners..Bullet proof love them and very reliable and easy to maintain..

[@abazism]

Please make more videos. You explain things very well and straight forward.

[@jmm20001]

Great video for us new oil heat people. Thank you.

[@DerangedSurvival]

Thank you for the wealth of knowledge, in the process of buying my first home this month. This video was a huge help I have 2 pages of notes lol

[@SilverCymbal]

Thank you so much I really appreciate the nice comment

[@frank-vy9xe]

Don't buy a place with oil heat. You will live to regret it. Even electric heat is less costly albeit very expensive. At 21cents per kwh the rate here its like paying 2.09 a gallon of oil. Natural gas is like 89cents a gallon of oil and lp gas is the most expensive 4.09 per gallon of oil equiva

[@runit5772]

The greatest, most informative boiler video out..

[@Rhezoloution]

Great Video! I had to change out one of those zone valves once that had died...somehow I managed to do it myself thanks to a video or two on youtube.

[@crabmansteve6844]

This is good info. I watch Tankmasters KZbin channel and they're a bunch of guys in NY state who install/remove oil systems and do environmental remediation for leaking systems and I never understood the whole process of the furnaces. I live in the deep south and we use gas furnaces or heat pumps exclusively down here.

[@FriendlyNeighborhoodNitpicker]

Excellent, methodical, detailed video. Very much appreciated!!

[@jerry3579]

Thank you so much for this video. I am, exactly, who you made this video for - a new homeowner with very little understanding about how my oil heating system works. New sub.

[@SilverCymbal]

You are so welcome!

[@rodgraff1782]

Cool that you have outside air reset. That is a real energy saver. Why make 180 degree water all the time when you might be able to use 90 degree water on a milder day. Guess that you would have to not use that if you have a tankless heater. Looks like you have. Real sanitary installation. I’ve been working on oil fired equipment for almost 50 years, and your video is excellent.

[@christopherconte4315]

Excellent. Thank you. Very simple. I’m trying to find out how to adjust my domestic water temperature. It’s very hot.

[@bearsgarage272]

Very helpful, i am buying my first home, potentially an oil burner and this was very informative

[@SilverCymbal]

Glad this helped. Thank you

[@chabka34]

Same

[@MyNathanking]

Hey Silver Cymbal, I am fully familiar with oil burners and oil furnaces and boilers, but I still like to watch these kinds of teaching videos just to see how the material is being taught. I especially love that you talk about the oil tank gauge because that's a feature on every home heating oil tank but a feature which wouldn't be obvious to the plain and ordinary homeowner because all the gauge is is this little tube sticking up out of the top of the tank; it's controlled by a float inside the tank. It's impressive that you would mention even the smallest details about an oil heat system.

[@yacinebesseghir2235]

How can we turn some radiators off ? Can we do so from the boiler ?! My radiators don’t have valves ! Thank you

[@MyNathanking]

@@yacinebesseghir2235 I would not be able to give you a pat answer unless I knew more about your system. Does it have single zones? Does it have multiple zones? If there are multiple zones, or heating loops, in your house, they should each have a valve on them That's necessary anyway for when the zones are either drained or purged. Because of this, the individual zones also should also have spigots on each of them for that purpose. Check for shutoff valves on your zones --- if you have multiple zones. If you can't turn the radiators off that way, you can reduce radiator heat output by putting blankets or quilts over them. By the way, what kind of radiators do you have? If you have modern baseboard radiators instead of the old-fashioned iron kind, do your radiators have some kind of closers on their tops to stop their convection?

[@elmuzzo]

Great Video, you have one of the best looking system i've ever seen! really clean and easy to work on..

[@SilverCymbal]

Thank you, its hard to believe that my system is now 20 years old. The burner was replaced about 9 years ago but I try to keep it in good shape and hope it can last another 20! Thanks for watching.

[@germainecalliste4570]

AWESOME Video! Very informative and narrated. I don’t know much about boilers but that’s a beautiful set-up!!

[@SilverCymbal]

Thank you very much. Considering it's almost 20 years old it's held up very well with good maintenance.

[@khanscombe619]

Good detailed video m8. Still widely used in modern hikes & buildings in UK it’s actually in most cases twice or more economical then heat pump which they are trying to push to confer here in UK. Smooth & quiet night operation.

[@wizard3z868]

having a cheap land lord and being cold i learned a lot abought the cad cell and how they work also HOME DEPOT has a lot of oil burner parts that even the store employees didnt now they had till i went down after seeing thier online inventory and items. i needded a new cad cell online was like $15 cheaper than the store price so i went down there to have it priced match took us a few minites to blow the dust of the section of shelves where the parts where and we where all shocked at how much they had on shelves lol

[@chrismcmillan1998]

Wow excellent video! Very informative and hits all the pertinent data about introductory oil furnaces! Great job!

[@sadiafofana280]

I really liked this video thank you very much, may God bless you and gives you the health and strength for you make many more great ones in the future.

[@ranckie]

Great job on the video. While I could expand on many of the points you covered simply because of the complexity of a complete hydronic system, I won't because you did a great job covering most of the components. The one critical thing that I will add though has to do with the oil line going from the tank to the burner. Even if your state laws do not require a flexible plastic tube over the oil line, (most of which are soft copper tubing), if the line is buried under the concrete unprotected, and comes into contact with the concrete anywhere on its journey to the burner, a chemical reaction will occur, and the copper line will eventually leak. Because nearly every state has to follow very strict federal or state environmental laws, an oil leak UNDER that concrete could end up contaminating the soil and the homeowner is the one responsible, and it WILL COST you many, many thousands of dollars for environmental clean-up, and in some cases that cost could be as much as the cost of the home! If your oil line does not have a plastic shield, whether under the floor or not, install one as soon as you can because the cost for not doing so will be far greater than the cost of a new copper line. Thank you for your video's.

[@yomomma9070]

Never seen a boiler reset control in a residential setting. Smart to install though. No need to heat water to 180 on a 60 degree day. Nice clean install very clean and clearly laid out.

[@seancondon5572]

I came here to satisfy my curiosity. These sorts of systems are, from what I know, VERY uncommon everywhere except the Northeast States. Gas is more common in Michigan, and in states like Alabama and Tennessee, heat pumps and resistance heat are more common, so I don't have really any exposure to these sorts of systems. So, yeah, learned something. Mission accomplished.

[@holdmybeard3160]

I'm still getting to know my System 2000 combi boiler. Thanks for the video.

[@popandu1170]

This is absolutely perfect for a layman like me. If all videos were like this I think I may just understand a good amount! you would be a great teacher! big up from the UK! : )

[@SilverCymbal]

I really appreciate that, very kind of you. Thanks for watching

[@kurt2439]

This was a great video, thank you! Took a look at that boiler after this and everything finally made sense lol

[@SilverCymbal]

Glad it helped!

[@edbouhl3100]

Thanks! I’ve never lived in a cold climate in a home large enough to need a boiler. But I recently installed a Taco hot water recirculating pump and got curious after seeing so many KZbin videos about Tacos on boilers. They definitely have more valves and other hardware than I thought! Definitely not very DIY friendly.

[@getyourownlife]

This was very helpful. I just bought a house that has a oil heat boiler, and I have no experience with boilers. I think the one I have is past its expiration date.

[@astronutz6623]

I absorbed all your info thanks, just changed an air valve

[@annawelcome1668]

Thanks so much. Have never had oil heat before so all of this info was very helpful and reassuring to us. Very well explained.

[@SilverCymbal]

Glad it was helpful!

[@jackiesicilian5720]

I definitely appreciate it!! Hvac guys were installing new air handler and forgot to turn water valve on to first floor. Ugh it's 10°

[@kerryramroop6009]

Thank you, its my first time owning a home with an oil furnace.

[@SilverCymbal]

You are very welcome. They can seem quite scary but are good examples of solid engineering and if you keep up with an annual maintenance/cleaning they can often last up to 30+ years with small parts replaced here and there are needed.

[@RiseOrRelinquish]

Thank you, very informative video. Mine is a New yorker. I haven't had any real issues with it yet. I believe I will convert to a natural gas boiler once this dies.

[@rubenb.molina6968]

Brilliant video! I walked me through everything I needed to know to get me started. Now I know why my boiler is "leaking".thanks for sharing; will be checking out the other ones

[@mbungufamilytv4846]

Thank you so much. It helps me as a student of HVAC/R

[@milagrosroman9978]

loved this video, i just learned what i need to put on my oil boiler. thanks

[@SilverCymbal]

Thank you I am glad it was helpful. I will have some new heating videos coming soon too.

[@jmvernal]

ty, I am 75 and just moved into a home with an oil boiler; never had one before. I paid a professional to look at it and get it ready for winter, but I still am unsure about my boiler. There are all kind of noises coming from the (can't think of name right now, I don't have radiaters.. I have.. whatever) I hear noises from them and from my boiler... all kind that I don't know what they are. I was woken several times during the night.. didn't know if someone was breaking in the house or walking on the roof.. but I am sure that they are all coming from my heating. not use to this. made me search for this type of video this morning.. and all I can sasy is boy, you know your stuff. I feel relieved to find it.. learned a lot, but need to make it stick. it will take me a while. First thing that I am going to do is go down and see what kind of boiler I have! thank you for the boiler video.. I will be watching it many times

[@OGDKNY]

Thank you so much. You saved my hind with this video.

[@oxanalangley9131]

Helpful. As i helped someone's no heat now solved. Do have another unit no hot water during the warmwr months to faucets unless they turn heat on high. My assumption is diverter valve issue. The technicians they had come just clean and leave never solved the issue.

[@smelcer0001]

Thanks for the in-depth information

[@rascalwind]

This was cool. We don't have boiler systems here but it's fun to learn about them.

[@HBO1984.]

That is a crazy set you people use in the north. Here in Houston, Tx. we just have 1 40 gal. average gas or electric water heater, hot and cold water supply lines and another pipe for the TPR valve and the vent to the attic. My 40 gal gas water heater costs $300 and I install it myself and I only know minor plumbing.

[@SilverCymbal]

We do have some different setups. Similar to Finland and Germany more so than other parts of the US. It's easy once you are used to it. but a lot of things.

[@littlemanwithglasses5491]

Love how clean you have the area. Maintenance must be easy to perform and comfortable

[@SilverCymbal]

Thank you for the nice words, having spent the first 20 years of my life in condos and apartments, I always dreamed of having a basement and garage and love to keep them super clean.

[@MattrixNY]

Awesome video! I just bought my 1st home!!!!! I am subbing to your channel now. Cheers from upstate NY!

[@SilverCymbal]

Thank you very much for the nice comment. Glad it was helpful.

[@holtsvillehal8616]

Two Thumbs Up !!!!! Great Lecture, Informative, easy to understand, etc ! But I have one Comment..........You have one clean, organized, taken care of system ! Love it ! Now...explain....which pipes you wrapped, and why not the others, and which Joints only you wrapped and why ? Otherwise Great Video, every inch of it ! Now Heater coil plate replacing, that rusts over time...., and tune ups, filter and strainer replacing.......Thank You !

[@Chreative427]

Thank you! Really helped me understand what’s going on with the heating in my new home

[@americana1234]

and helped me understand what's going with my heating in my old home that I never understood before :)

[@mictreful]

as a retired oil burner tech good video remember folks a oil burner flame is a controlled explosion ; D

[@SilverCymbal]

Very good point, one secret was that I tried to film the burner through the inspection port, let's just say my endscope camera didn't last long enough for the footage!

[@RobAlbertHVAC]

The barometric damper is installed to maintain proper draft in the combustion chamber.

[@MegaGeorge1948]

The auto fill valve also regulates the boiler pressure from the house plumbing from 60- 90 PSI to around 20 PSI. If it fails, and the pressure exceeds 30 PSI, the external pressure relief valve (located directly on the boiler) will dump some water on the floor to reduce pressure. Also, if your expansion tank is water logged, the expanding hot water will do the same thing. If there is a leak in your hydronic boiler system, the auto fill valve will let makeup water into the boiler at 20 PSI, unless you override it by flipping that lever on top of it . Also there is another type of oil fired boiler. It's called a steam boiler for older houses like mine. Steam systems are simpler in operation. But are less efficient than your hydronic heating system.

[@robsterlobster6068]

The S1156 Pressure Reducing Valve.

[@A.RR24115]

Very informative and clear video/ audio I like it . Thanks bro

[@SilverCymbal]

Thank you very much for the kind words and for watching!

[@A.RR24115]

Silver Cymbal yr wellcome I watched all your videos I'm heating engineer even though we use different system than the one in U.S. but still learning many principles of components through you. Keep them coming bro. From jordan

[@CrazyPetez]

Such a complicated, complex system. As an 80 year resident of California, for the most part, I’ve had various forms of forced or natural airflow heat, powered by natural gas. The only exception was in the early 70s in Oakland Calif. Steam radiators, not hot water, natural gas fueled. Yes, you’d hear the the pipes knocking and the steam hissing, but after a few minutes, it was silent and heated the apartment. Today we have forced air heat via propane in a 250 gallon tank outside. If I had to,put with that oil heat system, I’d replace it, or MOVE.

[@M_0892]

Very clear. Good explained. Well spoken! thx for sharing!

[@SilverCymbal]

Glad it was helpful!

[@peterdangelo1943]

I've got a slant fin boiler its very efficient, yearly maintenance done on it.A lot of money well worth it.

[@ArpaRec]

You should do a video like this for central air conditioning.

[@deondesignltd]

Great video! Thanks for taking time to make this. It was very help full

[@fredrosa8325]

Really appreciate your video and the information. Very helpful and informative.

[@tpak07]

I just moved to the far Northeast and this video was so helpful

[@SilverCymbal]

Thank you so much. I love to make these and nice comments like this make it worthwhile. Best wishes to you

[@lisadabrosca8394]

Thank you for making this video. I learned so much!

[@SilverCymbal]

Glad it was helpful!

[@h2oboater]

Absolutely Fantastic video ... Thank you for posting this . 👍👍👍👍👍

[@SilverCymbal]

Glad you enjoyed it Thank you for the nice words

[@DSesignD]

Thanks for the video. Trying to understand my new home better and this is the best video I've seen. I will ask: Economical compared to what?

[@buglife-xyz]

Thanks for concise overviw of this heat system. figured i would ask while i am here: What would cause return pipes getting cold not frozen? Preventing baseboard heat from reaching a zone, i suspect slush not solid ice

[@Ntd508]

I m an idiot but this video was really helpful to understand what I m looking at when I go downstairs into the boiler room. Great video.

[@SilverCymbal]

Glad it helped, these are a mystery to almost everyone who owns one, so I am glad to help share this.

[@danielcarter491]

One small error... as your speaking about the circulator pump for the baseboard heating, the return line is that large pipe at the left rear corner of your boiler. The water cannot return to the boiler on the pipes above that circulator pump. It's a one-way flow as with any other plumbing. You'll notice that a line from your indirect water heater tank is also connected to and returning via that pipe around the back. I am a little curious what room or location that line on the far right (above the circulator pump) goes to as it is the only one not insulated and it's location doesn't seem conducive to a good flow unless the control gates (zone valves) to all other locations are closed. It was probably a zone that was added on your system at some point after the original system installation. Very nice system install that you have there. Well done, resilient and clean. Excellent presentation as well.

[@ohioplayer-bl9em]

I'm glad we yave a natural gas furnace after watching this. So many things to leak or break with that system.

[@rackets001]

Makes me glad I have a natural gas furnace and water heater! So much simpler!

[@glennmanchester9151]

Nice very clear and concise to the point and understandable the installer did a really nice job on that install no doubt . its been a very long time since ive worked on a boiler since the 80s when i was going thru my apprenticeship in new bedford mass local 77 plumbers and pipefitters after that was done and i had a good background and had been trained for the previous 5. Years by the best of the best in the country in the plumbing and heating field i decided i did not like cold weather lol and high tailed it to fla. This was in 89 and yes ive been back for visits and unfortunately funerals and such i could never live there again anyway lemme get back to my point lol the boilers havent changed at all basically the components are all the same maybe a bit smarter but thats all and in fla theres no need for hydronic heating systems so i spent my career working in high rises and hotels and such running jobs and doing my own plumbing work on the side raised four boys due to the education i got from the men of local 77 thank you gentlemen it has served me very very well and im forever endebted to you guys now i gotta go pahk the cah and have a beeh later everyone and goidnight

[@americana1234]

i was almost going to say that I could hear your MA accent while reading your post, but laughed at the end because that was exactly what I was going to say!!

[@FirmBreastedAlien]

@Sliver Cymbal Massachusetts!!! Shout out from NH. Thanks for the great content

[@SilverCymbal]

I appreciate that, always nice to see some local folks!

[@leodavis7524]

Great video I’m definitely new to hot water oil heat ..

[@ML-lg4ky]

Great video and good information thanks for sharing!

[@notmyfield5391]

Nice video and well explained, thanks. I'm not a plumbing heating guy just a industrial mechanic- millwright. I bought an old house several years ago with an old Burnham boiler 4zone 4circ pump plus hot water packed in a small room and just about everyone of the many old gate valves had a drip.It was quite a project to replace and repair all those leaks with so many closely placed soldered fittings because it would start to melt out the solder on nearby fittings. I plan on replacing that old boiler in the near future like next summer, my reason for watching boiler videos and love how neat and clean your system is laid out... but what if you get a bad ball vlv or leaky tee in the middle of that manifold- major project or do I just suck at soldering and should be watching different vids? Just getting plumbing lay out ideas with ease of maintenance in the future...nothing lasts forever.

[@SilverCymbal]

I hear you and have had similar situations in tight spaces. I do solder but don't really like to. If I was in your situation I would rent a tool called a Pro Press made by Rigid. They use special non-solder fittings that compress with high strength and are considered excellent and reliable. They are far beyond shark bites and work well. The fittings and tool rental will cost you some money but less than hiring someone and they go on instantly. I just find it too difficult for a regular person to do that much soldering the old way without problems. The Propress is fantastic but too much to buy but this might be an option for you. Thanks for watching.

[@jshaw4757]

What about push fitting rather that solder heat proof push fittings ?

[@robsterlobster6068]

I hope you went the smart route and redesigned this to a common return using zone valves and a single circulator. I am not a fan of common feed/common return systems. I prefer a mono-flow design where a loop is fashioned and the appliances (baseboard) are run individually by a zone valve. This keeps the water circulating at a pre-determind temp in the loop. Maybe 150-160°F. This allows for a modicum of heat at an instant with increased temp following. Does it use more fuel? no because it is maintaining the same temp as the boiler. The system doesn't have to produce a flash of btu's to heat a room because there s already a moderate amount of heat available. Second. Never run your hot water from the boiler into an aqua-stor. Use a separate burner or even gas or electric for use in summer.

[@Spiros219]

Amazing, clear and exactly what I wanted

[@johannahshair4063]

Hi, i thought this video was super excellent 👍 I have a similar set up and in NJ. The issue I'm having is my tracometer ? Never goes under 140 so when I turn my heat on it only runs for a little while once a reaches 190 it turned off. It take so long for the heat to come back on that I set my thermostat at 68 but it never gets there. It stops at 63 and 64 and it's been cold these months so I'm trying to figure out why that's happening. I had maintenance done on it back in October and I have about a quarter tank of fuel. All the other parts that you mentioned seem to be working fine. Any advice? Thanks again I appreciate your expertise!

[@Plumb0b123]

Yes, it is a helpful video. I’d really like to know whether diesel boilers have developed in ways to make them more compatible with climate change concerns. Thanks

[@BWJM44]

How to know if you have a Diesel boiler or petroleum boiler or some other oils

[@Liberallez]

Very clear and helpful!! Thank you!!

[@trevinowilliams]

Great video, I have a house that was built in the 19 30 it's a Old Furnace it has most of the upgrades that you said but my problem is is radiator Heat and the technicians always refer to a gravity field system I have to bleed the radiators my other question is this where does the water come from to feed the furnace I get nothing to the upper floors radiators in fact I have left the radiator valve open for several hours and nothing comes out get back to me thank you and keep the videos going

[@SilverCymbal]

From the vintage and info you provided it sounds like you have steam heating. Though it's not popular now, it has a huge following. It is often called a gravity system due to how the steam flows through and uses gravity to condense and flow back. Your system gets water from your house plumbing. You should visit www.heatinghelp.com the "wall". They are the best in the business and allow homeowners to post messages asking for help. They also have a network of experts who know steam heating and can help you. Steam is almost like an art now so these guys will really help and probably have you send pictures to give you more info. Let me know how it goes.

[@speedway04002]

Great vid, by the way, very informative

[@ncironhorse8367]

Another great and informative video!

[@anveshpamukuntla8450]

Awesome video. I had no idea how a boiler worker before watching this. Thanks! Also, I have a question, my house doesn't seem to have a water tank. It just has a boiler with pipes. Is it better to have a hot water tank (superstore)?

[@mtandiz]

Thank you sooooo much, very educational, I have subscribed, & wish you the best.