Oil Heat 🔥 Boilers - How it works - Understand the Basics 

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Clear video and perfect sound. No background annoying music. Perfect!

Thanks, Silver. Old nuclear navy Machinists Mate and mechanical engineer, here. Love your content. Won't touch control systems. A man's got to know his limitations. But, I really like the way your HVAC guy installed the ersatz zone control. I've had two houses with oil-hot water systems, with domestic coils. I love the way they heat the house. My current system is about 50 years old. I had to replace the Beckett burner and expansion tank two years ago and installed missing baffles. The system is generally bullet proof. I took the system to parade rest and replaced anything with marginal performance a few weeks ago. The old system is burning at 87.8% efficiency now. The baffles seemed to have the most impact on efficiency, but I can't prove it. Turbulent flow vs. laminar flow in the heat exchanger makes sense. My house sat unoccupied for nearly ten years before I bought it. It took a year to get all the air out of the system. I put auto-vents on each baseboard radiator, but the expansion tank and air separator are in the basement like yours. And, the expansion tank was filled. High point vents are the way to go. If I build another house, I will have a loop and expansion volume in an upstairs closet. But once vented, the system is nearly silent. A little thermal ticking and that's about it. I cycle the auto-fill valve each spring. Before I installed a water softener (another good Silver Cymbal video), scale would wreck the valve. I replaced the boiler relief valve two years ago, too, Justin Case. I check the exhaust damper periodically, too. I noticed exhaust odor once and discovered the counter-weight had fallen off. The back pressure in the flue caused a puff of exhaust each time the furnace ignited. I found the weight and screw and balanced the flue again. Used a little Locktite, too. I use a brush and ShopVac to clean the radiators on a rotating basis. (PMS Schedule) I have CO detectors in the basement and in the room directly above the boiler.

The world need more people like you!!you're a very special guy God bless my friend!!and thanks a million!!

I used this video as a learning resource when I first started in HVAC (In NH like yourself). Now I'm well versed in oil service, in part thanks to you!

Thank you! Coming from a Gas force hot and Central air to an oil burner, this video is gold!!!

Thank you for this video. Who ever moves to the north or a new house that has this type of system; should watch it. Very helpful. My boiler system is not so elaborate, but not only I understand it better, but I also learned about other components out there. I will check out your other videos. I don't why some people would dislike this video. It is genuine, simple and honest.

Very good, thank you. When we had oil-fired central heating in the '60s/'70s (in England), our tank was in the garden - a big metal container, painted green. It was under a fir tree, so we had to take care that the fir parts didn't get in through the fill-cap area. Good to know about the safety devices. I once went inside a large house where there'd been a fire. The oil-fired boiler had been completely untouched.

Really well done... we have oil-fired forced air furnace but my in-laws have an oil-fired boiler that needs to be replaced and I am helping them select a vendor. This provided great background on the fundamentals. Thank you!

Just bought a home with oil and couldn’t figure out anything. Watched this and followed along and now I have a good understanding of how it works and where the different functions are. Thank you saved me hundreds by not having to call someone out!

Thanks a lot for putting this video together. It was very well explained and it really gave me a better perspective of what is happening beyond the multiple pipes, valves, etc...which was like a black box for me before your video. Thanks!

This is the best source of info for the oil burner system I have found. Very concisely and detailed information. Thank you!

I’m considering replacing my 35+ year old boiler myself and this video is a great tutorial on the basics of each part. Thank you!

I’ve been an HVAC service tech for a little over a month, no formal training. My company is one of the only ones in the area that still services oil. I’ve seen enough gas furnaces and heat pumps to where I’m getting comfortable with them, but a nice, concise overview on oil is well appreciated!

Newer to New England and a first time homebuyer closing in January LOL so thank you this beautifully detailed walk through!!

You are the best!! Im in Hartford County and I'm new to oil heat, I too have a Beckett but not as many fancy plugs etc that you have... thanks so much for all your videos!! Im learning more & more with each video I watch!!

Excellent. Thank you. Clear. No nonsense. On point. Well done 👍

Your video has been a great help in aiding me with identification of the various components of my system and what they do. Exactly what I was looking for. Thank you.

Thank you for the wealth of knowledge, in the process of buying my first home this month. This video was a huge help I have 2 pages of notes lol

Thanks for the video and the time you took to make it. Just purchased a house with fuel oil. Much appreciated video.

Great Video! I had to change out one of those zone valves once that had died...somehow I managed to do it myself thanks to a video or two on youtube.

Thank you very much. This was super helpful. I recently purchased my first home in New England moved from the Caribbean. So I really had no idea what I was looking at. Thank you again.

👍 I have 50+ yrs as home owner with basic furnace knowledge. I found this very helpful for new owner & appreciate you instructing not to fool with devices, but contact professional. 😷 My interest is understanding home owner servicing occasionally leaky OTP Valve. I turn off main water supply & trigger valve couple times, collecting very dirty water. If that doesn't stop leak, time to call PROFESSIONAL ! 😷

Great video for us new oil heat people. Thank you.

The greatest, most informative boiler video out..

Great Video, you have one of the best looking system i've ever seen! really clean and easy to work on..

Excellent, methodical, detailed video. Very much appreciated!!

I bought a Spirit low boy Oil Furnace last year..Love it and it has these newer Beckett AFG Burners..Bullet proof love them and very reliable and easy to maintain..

AWESOME Video! Very informative and narrated. I don’t know much about boilers but that’s a beautiful set-up!!

Thanks for the in-depth information

This was a great video, thank you! Took a look at that boiler after this and everything finally made sense lol

Very helpful, i am buying my first home, potentially an oil burner and this was very informative

loved this video, i just learned what i need to put on my oil boiler. thanks

Please make more videos. You explain things very well and straight forward.

Great video as a homeowner I feel like going to Harbor Freight grabbing some tools and a tool pouch and starting an oil repair business!!!👍

Wow excellent video! Very informative and hits all the pertinent data about introductory oil furnaces! Great job!

Hey Silver Cymbal, I am fully familiar with oil burners and oil furnaces and boilers, but I still like to watch these kinds of teaching videos just to see how the material is being taught. I especially love that you talk about the oil tank gauge because that's a feature on every home heating oil tank but a feature which wouldn't be obvious to the plain and ordinary homeowner because all the gauge is is this little tube sticking up out of the top of the tank; it's controlled by a float inside the tank. It's impressive that you would mention even the smallest details about an oil heat system.

I came here to satisfy my curiosity. These sorts of systems are, from what I know, VERY uncommon everywhere except the Northeast States. Gas is more common in Michigan, and in states like Alabama and Tennessee, heat pumps and resistance heat are more common, so I don't have really any exposure to these sorts of systems. So, yeah, learned something. Mission accomplished.

I really liked this video thank you very much, may God bless you and gives you the health and strength for you make many more great ones in the future.

Good detailed video m8. Still widely used in modern hikes & buildings in UK it’s actually in most cases twice or more economical then heat pump which they are trying to push to confer here in UK. Smooth & quiet night operation.

Cool that you have outside air reset. That is a real energy saver. Why make 180 degree water all the time when you might be able to use 90 degree water on a milder day. Guess that you would have to not use that if you have a tankless heater. Looks like you have. Real sanitary installation. I’ve been working on oil fired equipment for almost 50 years, and your video is excellent.

Thank you for making this video. I learned so much!

I'm still getting to know my System 2000 combi boiler. Thanks for the video.

This was cool. We don't have boiler systems here but it's fun to learn about them.

Thanks so much. Have never had oil heat before so all of this info was very helpful and reassuring to us. Very well explained.

I absorbed all your info thanks, just changed an air valve

having a cheap land lord and being cold i learned a lot abought the cad cell and how they work also HOME DEPOT has a lot of oil burner parts that even the store employees didnt now they had till i went down after seeing thier online inventory and items. i needded a new cad cell online was like $15 cheaper than the store price so i went down there to have it priced match took us a few minites to blow the dust of the section of shelves where the parts where and we where all shocked at how much they had on shelves lol

Thank you, its my first time owning a home with an oil furnace.

Very clear and helpful!! Thank you!!

Awesome video! I just bought my 1st home!!!!! I am subbing to your channel now. Cheers from upstate NY!

This is absolutely perfect for a layman like me. If all videos were like this I think I may just understand a good amount! you would be a great teacher! big up from the UK! : )

Thank you so much. You saved my hind with this video.

Thank you! Really helped me understand what’s going on with the heating in my new home

Very clear. Good explained. Well spoken! thx for sharing!

Never seen a boiler reset control in a residential setting. Smart to install though. No need to heat water to 180 on a 60 degree day. Nice clean install very clean and clearly laid out.

Thank you so much. It helps me as a student of HVAC/R

Great vid, by the way, very informative

Amazing, clear and exactly what I wanted

The auto fill valve also regulates the boiler pressure from the house plumbing from 60- 90 PSI to around 20 PSI. If it fails, and the pressure exceeds 30 PSI, the external pressure relief valve (located directly on the boiler) will dump some water on the floor to reduce pressure. Also, if your expansion tank is water logged, the expanding hot water will do the same thing. If there is a leak in your hydronic boiler system, the auto fill valve will let makeup water into the boiler at 20 PSI, unless you override it by flipping that lever on top of it . Also there is another type of oil fired boiler. It's called a steam boiler for older houses like mine. Steam systems are simpler in operation. But are less efficient than your hydronic heating system.

Thank you so much for this video. I am, exactly, who you made this video for - a new homeowner with very little understanding about how my oil heating system works. New sub.

Love how clean you have the area. Maintenance must be easy to perform and comfortable

Great video and good information thanks for sharing!

Great job on the video. While I could expand on many of the points you covered simply because of the complexity of a complete hydronic system, I won't because you did a great job covering most of the components. The one critical thing that I will add though has to do with the oil line going from the tank to the burner. Even if your state laws do not require a flexible plastic tube over the oil line, (most of which are soft copper tubing), if the line is buried under the concrete unprotected, and comes into contact with the concrete anywhere on its journey to the burner, a chemical reaction will occur, and the copper line will eventually leak. Because nearly every state has to follow very strict federal or state environmental laws, an oil leak UNDER that concrete could end up contaminating the soil and the homeowner is the one responsible, and it WILL COST you many, many thousands of dollars for environmental clean-up, and in some cases that cost could be as much as the cost of the home! If your oil line does not have a plastic shield, whether under the floor or not, install one as soon as you can because the cost for not doing so will be far greater than the cost of a new copper line. Thank you for your video's.

This is good info. I watch Tankmasters RU-vid channel and they're a bunch of guys in NY state who install/remove oil systems and do environmental remediation for leaking systems and I never understood the whole process of the furnaces. I live in the deep south and we use gas furnaces or heat pumps exclusively down here.

I definitely appreciate it!! Hvac guys were installing new air handler and forgot to turn water valve on to first floor. Ugh it's 10°

Thank you, very informative video. Mine is a New yorker. I haven't had any real issues with it yet. I believe I will convert to a natural gas boiler once this dies.

Very informative and clear video/ audio I like it . Thanks bro

Great video！

Thanks so much for this! Very helpful

Excellent. Thank you. Very simple. I’m trying to find out how to adjust my domestic water temperature. It’s very hot.

Thanks very well explained!

Very informative video. Thank you!

Beautiful setup

Thank you for sharing this.

This is really great, thank you!

You should do a video like this for central air conditioning.

Another great and informative video!

Thanks! I’ve never lived in a cold climate in a home large enough to need a boiler. But I recently installed a Taco hot water recirculating pump and got curious after seeing so many RU-vid videos about Tacos on boilers. They definitely have more valves and other hardware than I thought! Definitely not very DIY friendly.

Great video! Very helpful.

I just moved to the far Northeast and this video was so helpful

Absolutely Fantastic video ... Thank you for posting this . 👍👍👍👍👍

This was very helpful. I just bought a house that has a oil heat boiler, and I have no experience with boilers. I think the one I have is past its expiration date.

Thank you for a great video.

That was a very well done video !

And Thank you for your VERY helpful Video!!!

Really appreciate your video and the information. Very helpful and informative.

very helpful and educational!! Thank you very much

Great video. Thanks for sharing.

Thank you sooooo much, very educational, I have subscribed, & wish you the best.

@Sliver Cymbal Massachusetts!!! Shout out from NH. Thanks for the great content

Awesome video, thank you!

Great video! Thanks for taking time to make this. It was very help full

I've got a slant fin boiler its very efficient, yearly maintenance done on it.A lot of money well worth it.

Great video I’m definitely new to hot water oil heat ..

Amazingly informative.

Great job on the video, thank you!

Thanks I learned a lot.

that's actually a fairly good install.

Thank you great explanation

as a retired oil burner tech good video remember folks a oil burner flame is a controlled explosion ; D