I have have been saying that I couldn't wait for heating season to arrive so I can put the Kedel through it's paces and get it fine tuned. Well, now that it is here I'm longing for a few more warm days to prepare for the long Northern Maine winters. The temperature has been below freezing every night this week and the days have been very chilly. The Kedel is running very well and I am still very pleased and convinced I made the right choice. As expected, pellet consumption has increased ad the Kedel is running pretty much constantly, at a low power level, through the night and only shuts down a couple times during sunny days with solar gain from my large windows. This is right where we want it as the start/stop cycles lower the efficiency of the unit, much like starting a car takes more gas and energy than letting it idle. I watch the power level and output readings and really enjoy the fact that the unit keeps itself at the lowest power level needed and will ramp itself up as the temperature drops. The house remains a consistent temperature of between 68 to 70 although it may not appear that way if you have been watching the data graphs. The temperature sensor reads in tenths of a degree where my thermostat reads in whole degrees. You can almost tell when we let the dog out by the drop of a couple tenths of a degree on the graph.
As for the pellet consumption, it is in keeping with my expectation based on the square footage I am heating, age of the windows and home insulation. I compared the pellet consumption per square foot of other Kedels heating around the clock and I'm right there with them. At this moment I am using .034 lbs/sq.ft./day. I will gain additional efficiency when I swap the windows out for newer, more efficient ones (next year?). I have consumed just under a ton of pellets at this point and found that with the pellets I am using, the ash bin will hold the ash of almost the whole ton. I have no intention of letting it get filled all way again. Emptying the ash bin every three to four weeks is more than acceptable. I may try a new brand with my next purchase just to see how it will effect performance and ash production.
The cost savings is still very obvious over the oil boiler. I still the oil connected to the system although I have no intention of throwing the on switch any time soon. Perhaps it's the 6 months I spent in the Boy Scouts or the episodes of 'Doomsday Prepper' I've watched that tell me "keep the backup."
I'll gather additional data over the next few weeks then post my cost savings data of pellets over oil. At that point I'll also be able to more accurately look at the BTU output of the Kedel and compare it to the Heat Load calculations I had done prior to selecting the size of a boiler.
Thursday, October 31, 2013
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Naysayers, Pellet Level and Latest Tweaks
It's been a while since the last post because, well, you can only say things are going great so may times before people lose interest. Plus there was no major changes to discuss. We are still looking forward to the heating season to really test the Kedel out. I feel like we just bought a new sports car but can't open it up because the weather isn't cooperating.
Since my last post I have had several people ask me about the boiler and a half dozen coworkers are watching closely to see how it goes as they prepare to update their heating systems next year. A few naysayers have already converted to believers based on the limited data I have been able to share with them. It is obvious that people out there are looking at the Kedel, standing up and asking questions.
I finally had to add pellets to the hopper after a month of use. I had intentionally understated the amount of pellets in the hopper by 50 pounds when inputting the data on the control panel. I did this to create a buffer just in case I forgot to check the pellet level. There isn't much of a chance of that as I am drawn to the web site data and check it frequently. The method to my madness was that I wanted to see if the control panel would generate a warning to the user if the pellet level went low. The displayed pellet level dropped to 34.2 pounds before I spent 10 minutes to refill the hopper. No warning was generated. I will say that when I sent the suggestion to Kedel it was well recieved. I filled the hopper and once again understated the amount of pellets when I entering the poundage on the control panel. I suspect this is just like setting the time on your alarm clock back 10 minutes in case you oversleep and just end up taking advantage of knowing you can hit the snooze button one extra time. But for know, I'll say I have a buffer of 50 lbs.
I have been adjusting the fan speed on low setting for the past several days as I have been getting a 'Note' message on the display. Apparently the boiler has sensed it is not operating optimally and has been adjusting the auger speed on its own to compensate. A quick email to Kedel and they explained the solution. It was as easy as punching numbers on a number pad. A graph on the display clearly showed what was happening and each adjustment brought the oxygen levels to the desired levels and I no longer get the "Note" on the display. Kedel actually sent me an email saying that they had been watching (via the internet) and noticed that the adjustments were working. As I mentioned before, I love the ability to have techs look at my system in real time via the net.
Another change I made to the Kedel is I installed the exterior temperature sensor. Rather than putting it outside, I put it in my living room. This allows me to see the actual temperature in my home at any given time. Anyone looking at the website will see the orange line 'exterior temp' and see that it is 70 with less than 1.5 degree fluctuations. This is so much better than my old heating system. The constant temperature in the house makes it feel so much warmer.
And the last tweak I've made is to turn down the minumum power setting to 20% allowing the boiler to handle my DWH with less power.
So for now we will continue to wait for the colder weather to set in. It won't be long as the geese have been flying for a while. Although there are a few less after my hunting trip last week. I mentioned previously I am utilizing the time NOT cutting and splitting wood to do more hunting. So I guess the Kedel is good for me, bad for the geese.
Since my last post I have had several people ask me about the boiler and a half dozen coworkers are watching closely to see how it goes as they prepare to update their heating systems next year. A few naysayers have already converted to believers based on the limited data I have been able to share with them. It is obvious that people out there are looking at the Kedel, standing up and asking questions.
I finally had to add pellets to the hopper after a month of use. I had intentionally understated the amount of pellets in the hopper by 50 pounds when inputting the data on the control panel. I did this to create a buffer just in case I forgot to check the pellet level. There isn't much of a chance of that as I am drawn to the web site data and check it frequently. The method to my madness was that I wanted to see if the control panel would generate a warning to the user if the pellet level went low. The displayed pellet level dropped to 34.2 pounds before I spent 10 minutes to refill the hopper. No warning was generated. I will say that when I sent the suggestion to Kedel it was well recieved. I filled the hopper and once again understated the amount of pellets when I entering the poundage on the control panel. I suspect this is just like setting the time on your alarm clock back 10 minutes in case you oversleep and just end up taking advantage of knowing you can hit the snooze button one extra time. But for know, I'll say I have a buffer of 50 lbs.
I have been adjusting the fan speed on low setting for the past several days as I have been getting a 'Note' message on the display. Apparently the boiler has sensed it is not operating optimally and has been adjusting the auger speed on its own to compensate. A quick email to Kedel and they explained the solution. It was as easy as punching numbers on a number pad. A graph on the display clearly showed what was happening and each adjustment brought the oxygen levels to the desired levels and I no longer get the "Note" on the display. Kedel actually sent me an email saying that they had been watching (via the internet) and noticed that the adjustments were working. As I mentioned before, I love the ability to have techs look at my system in real time via the net.
Another change I made to the Kedel is I installed the exterior temperature sensor. Rather than putting it outside, I put it in my living room. This allows me to see the actual temperature in my home at any given time. Anyone looking at the website will see the orange line 'exterior temp' and see that it is 70 with less than 1.5 degree fluctuations. This is so much better than my old heating system. The constant temperature in the house makes it feel so much warmer.
And the last tweak I've made is to turn down the minumum power setting to 20% allowing the boiler to handle my DWH with less power.
So for now we will continue to wait for the colder weather to set in. It won't be long as the geese have been flying for a while. Although there are a few less after my hunting trip last week. I mentioned previously I am utilizing the time NOT cutting and splitting wood to do more hunting. So I guess the Kedel is good for me, bad for the geese.
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