oil burner t-stat location

[greenskeeper]

Going into the first winter season with an oil burner in the detached garage instead of a wood stove.

garage is 25x22 and the oil burner is obviously way over-sized since it came from a 1500 sqft house.

what is the best location for the t-stat? The burner is centered at one end of the garage pointing towards the two garage doors.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

Forced warm air? I'd put it on an inside wall if possible, roughly half way between the unit and the doors and not in direct contact with the heated air coming out of the unit.

Tommy

 

[htmdude57]

If the oil burner/furnace is over sized, ask your oil burner tech if it is possible for him to install a smaller nozzle. Of course, then he will need to test and adjust the air mixture. And check CO, CO2 and smoke.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

If the oil burner/furnace is over sized, ask your oil burner tech if it is possible for him to install a smaller nozzle. Of course, then he will need to test and adjust the air mixture. And check CO, CO2 and smoke.

Firing rate & efficiency should be checked regardless of whether he downsizes the nozzle or not.

Tommy

 

[rlitman]

Forced warm air? I'd put it on an inside wall if possible, roughly half way between the unit and the doors and not in direct contact with the heated air coming out of the unit.

Tommy

Exactly. You want to pick a spot where the cold of the exterior walls and the direct heat from the unit have the least influence on the thermostat.

Firing rate & efficiency should be checked regardless of whether he downsizes the nozzle or not.

Tommy

Well, to be fair, while they should be checked, there's a good chance that no adjustments will be required if the nozzle isn't changed.

 

[greenskeeper]

Forced warm air? I'd put it on an inside wall if possible, roughly half way between the unit and the doors and not in direct contact with the heated air coming out of the unit.

Tommy

I'll try that. I'm guessing it will be slow to react being the burner is so over-sized for my application.

 

[greenskeeper]

If the oil burner/furnace is over sized, ask your oil burner tech if it is possible for him to install a smaller nozzle. Of course, then he will need to test and adjust the air mixture. And check CO, CO2 and smoke.

Ideal but not practical. I'm only going to heat when I am out in the detached garage working. So maximum heat is a good thing in this application. I am thinking that once it's at temperature I shouldn't have to re-fire the burned that often.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

I'll try that. I'm guessing it will be slow to react being the burner is so over-sized for my application.

An oversized unit will just satisfy the stat faster. If you find that it's too hot closer to the unit or too cold further away, you can always relocate the stat. Closer to the unit if it's too hot, further away if it's too cold. Just make sure the discharge doesn't blow directly on the stat or it will short cycle.

Tommy

 

[greenskeeper]

Did a test with the t-stat along the wall parallel to the furnace. Over-shot the temperature by 15 degrees by the time the thermostat caught up to the actual room temp. Going to have to rethink this or not use a t-stat at all and just use an on/off timer switch or something.

 

[rodder98]

The best place is away from the warm air supply. It needs to sense the coolest air in your garage. And, if mounted on a wall, be sure that any hole where the thermostat wire comes through, is sealed up. If you don't, it could sense the air behind it, and not the room temperature.

 

[greenskeeper]

going to try putting the thermostat on the far wall, between the two garage doors in line with the airflow from the heater. This is obviously not an ideal situation with the heater being about 3x over sized.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

going to try putting the thermostat on the fall wall, between the two garage doors in line with the airflow from the heater. This is obviously not an ideal situation with the heater being about 3x over sized.

That may help with your overshooting problem. Sometimes the "conventional" thing isn't the best.

Tommy

 

[greenskeeper]

below freezing now...I've learned to set the t-stat about 5 degrees below the desired temperature when the furnace cuts off. The furnace although oversized is working fairly well. I can raise the temperature in the garage from 45 to 65 in about 10 minutes. Colder weather is coming though.