Can I lower temp on an aquastat?


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Old 05-24-07, 04:37 PM
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Can I lower temp on an aquastat?

I have a gas boiler with a boiler mate for hot water. Last season I installed a add-on wood/coal boiler so I really don't use the main boiler in the winter any more. The add-on heats my whole house and it makes hot water in the boiler mate. The thing is, I shut the add-on down and started using the the main boiler. The only thing the main boiler does now (in the summer) is heats the water in the boiler mate for hot water. I can't see having the boiler turn on all the time and heat up to 180* just to make hot water. Can I turn the aquastat down to about 140* or a little lower so it wouldn't have to run that long just to make hot water? What would be the lowest I would want to turn it down to?
 
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Old 05-24-07, 07:33 PM
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Wouldn't I use less fuel only having my boiler heat to 140* or less than having it heat to 180*?
 
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Old 05-24-07, 07:39 PM
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Yes, you would use less fuel but you may (or may not) also have fire-side corrosion problems with your boiler.
 
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Old 05-25-07, 06:29 AM
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You could probably turn down the aquastat to 150F. For gas boilers, you don't want return temperatures less than about 130F or as furd said, you may start corroding out the boiler due to flue gas condensation.

However, turning down the aquastat will probably lengthen the recovery cycle rather than shorten it.
 
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Old 05-26-07, 05:12 PM
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Thanks, I also turned down the boiler mate too. Seeing the price of propane, anything I can do to save on fuel is a help. I am going to look into a new standard h/w heater, that could also save me on fuel.
 
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Old 05-26-07, 05:27 PM
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I'm not a fan of tankless water heaters but if it is primarily saving fuel you are interested in you might want to check them out.

Tankless water heaters eliminate the standby losses and if your family ritual pretty much confines hot water usage to a specific time once or twice a day they can save money over the operation of a "standard" gas water heater.

Of course there are capital costs that must also be figured into the equation.
 
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Old 05-28-07, 07:47 AM
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I only have to use my propane to run the boiler to heat the boiler mate in the summer only. In the winter my add-on coal boiler heats the boiler mate. I just can't see running that big boiler all the time in the summer just to heat water.
 
 

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