Installation

The short wait passed quickly and installation day arrived.  My technicians, though experienced and skilled, had never installed a Kedel boiler.  A representative from Kedel traveled from Portland to work with the installers and show them the specifics of commissioning this specific type of boiler.  I must say it went without a hitch.  My previous pride in not having any of my soldered joints leak from the weekend's project turned to quiet humility as a steady drip was observed from a threaded connection on the boiler return.  No problem.  A couple quarter turns on the ball valves, two pipe wrenches, and some thread tape and sealant and the leak was no more.
Once familiarized with the controls and interfaces the installation went quickly and the boiler was soon humming.   And when I say humming I mean that is all you hear with this boiler.  I was told it would be quiet but I didn't expect it to be as silent as it was.  A refrigerator makes more noise when it is running.  The quiet hum of a fan and the occasional "plinking"  of pellets falling from the auger as all that reminded me that the unit was working.  The touch screen interface provided a wealth of information that appeared daunting at first but I quickly became comfortable with most of the terminology after brief instructions from the technicians. A quick software update also made things easier with more functionality and on screen prompts.
Aside from the technical settings of auger speeds, power settings, fan speeds, oxygen levels and the like; the Kedel also utilized easy to read bar charts and line charts to monitor most functions of the boiler as well as historical metering of pellet consumption.  This was not only available on the touch screen but also via any internet capable computer.  I found myself constantly checking online to see if it was running, partially because the steady drone of my previous heating system was evidence throughout the house that heat was being provided; and partially because it was just plain fun to see my boiler functions on my laptop and android phone.  I also found myself comparing my pellet consumption to the other Kedel boilers which were viewable online.   You can check it out at http://stokercloud.dk/?pos=us.