Installations
“We’ve come to love the MPO-IQ,” said Henderson. At
87%, they’re an efficient, dependable oil boiler.”
This design yielded a three-stage oil-fired system, which
is uncommon in a residential/light commercial application.
It provided some redundancy and, more importantly,
allowed the system to fire at lower input based on outdoor
reset.
Using the Watts OnSite web or mobile applications associated with the tekmar
Smart Boiler Control 294, Kenny Walker can monitor the boiler system
from his desktop or mobile device.
Controlling the boilers
became the next question.
Summers & Zims’ HVAC
trainer and in-house tech
support, Kenny Walker, has
a great deal of experience
with tekmar controls and
had used the tekmar Boiler
Control 274 for staging multiple
boilers on numerous occasions.
The property owner
also wanted to remotely
monitor the system through
Wi-Fi, so the new tekmar
Smart Boiler Control 294
was selected.
Rapid installation
Summers & Zims (originally
Summers Brothers Plumbing
& Heating) has been in the
business since 1930. They
merged with Zim’s Sales &
Service in the 1970s, forming
the company it is known as
today.
Summers & Zims employees
are known as “do the
right thing” kind of people. Joe Henderson is a knowledgeable
hydronics guy. When it came time to install the system
in a hurry, it was clear the company could handle it.
For the install, Walker was joined by Todd Lease, head
plumbing technician; Andrew DiEugenio, journeyman
plumber; and Austin McGhee, apprentice. The boilers
were rolled into the mechanical room and a primarysecondary
piping configuration was used to connect them
to the system loop. The fuel supply line to each boiler
features a Tigerloop fuel oil deaerator.
“We install a Tigerloop on every oil-fired system we
install,” said Walker. “They cut down on nonsense service
and emergency calls by cleaning up ignition and burn,
which creates less soot in the heat exchanger. We also like
that they allow us to use spin-on oil filters, which catch
small dirt particles and reduce nozzle failures.
“If the homeowner isn’t attentive to the amount of fuel
they have left in the tank, running empty isn’t such a big
deal,” he added. “The Tigerloop provides a two-pipe system
from the oil pump to the unit. This way, the oil pump
will self-prime, meaning the owner or the fuel delivery
tech can simply hit the reset button on the primary control
once oil has been delivered.”
Flexible fuel lines were used from the Tigerloop to the
boiler’s Beckett burner. To provide easy access to the
three-pass heat exchanger, the MPO-IQ features a hinged
Pictured left to right: Kenny Walker, Joe Henderson and Todd Lease.
8 ICM/September/October 2022