Hot Water Heating System Fuel Economizer
The unit is a microprocessor-controlled, fuel-saving device for hot water (hydronic) heating systems. The unit reduces fuel consumption, wear on parts, flue emissions and electrical usage, when installed on any new or existing gas or oil burner. The unit saves energy by adjusting the burner run pattern to match the system’s “heat load.”
Its action is similar to the industry-accepted method of “outdoor-air temperature reset control,” but does not require an outdoor-air temperature sensor or the need to profile the building in order to adjust the “reset” controller properly. The unit determines the “heat load” by using an easily installed strap-on temperature sensor that monitors the boiler’s outflow water temperature and the rate that this temperature is changing.
EnerGo Baseboard or Radiant Hot Water Heating
How Your Boiler Works Without EnerGo
When the temperature in the house goes below the thermostat set-point, a signal is sent to the circulator (or pump) which circulates the hot boiler water through the house and its radiation (baseboard, convectors, radiators or radiant)
The boiler has a control called an aqua-stat. The aqua-stat maintains the boiler at a certain temperature setting, usually around 180 degrees F. As the circulator moves the hot water from the boiler and pushes the cooler water in the radiation back to the boiler the temperature in the boiler begins to drop. The aqua-stat senses this drop in temperature and starts the burner to raise the boiler water temperature back up. Once the temperature is reached in the boiler, the burner shuts off.
Why Your System Is Inefficient
The boiler in your house is sized to give you heat during the coldest days of the year which happens about 1 to 2% of the heating season. The rest of the time the boiler is "oversized" because it is warmer outside. Therefore, most days you do not need to maintain the water temperature in your boiler at the aqua-stat setting. A lower water temperature would heat up your home just as quickly. But because your aqua-stat turns on the burner every time the temperature dips below its setting you will have a lot of unnecessary on/off cycles and therefore, a lot of wasted fuel consumption.
EnerGo Solution
The EnerGo takes advantage of this "over sizing" by delaying the start of the burner when the aqua-stat calls it on. It does this by using a sensor to watch how fast or how slow the water temperature leaving your boiler is changing. In other words, using all of the energy stored in the boiler water. While watching the temperature drop, the EnerGo is constantly coming up with a new start point for the burner. The end result: fewer on/off cycles (which are very inefficient and wastes fuel) and slightly longer more efficient on cycles. This means less fuel consumed with no negative effect on your comfort.
It's similar to the concept that stop and go driving uses a lot more gas than a smooth ride.
