Drip system with hot air plenum

[woodjointer]

here are a few pics of my system

since I took these pics I added a bigger fan for circulation, and i just ordered a pid so i can monitor the temp with out running down the basement every half hour.

[woodjointer]

I have noticed it runs best very hot, like 300 degrees.  sometimes if its windy out and the draft is not consistant it runs cooler and some oil pools up. And I have noticed one bad side effect when it runs cool, black soot falling like snow in my yard and on my cars, hopefully it doesnt make it to the neighbors house!

[Russ]

Yea I suppose the neighbors could get a little uptight about the black soot.  When it is burning good and hot is there much smoke coming out of the stack?  Maybe you need some sort of fan to keep the air moving in when it is windy outside?

[woodjointer]

when it burns good there is very little smoke, looks like a normal oil burner. do you mean a fan on the intake ?
thanks

[Russ]

Yes, on the intake.  But I suppose that might put the flame out?  I'm not sure as I havent played around with the drip systems before.  I have a similar problem with my pressure system if the wind is coming form the wrong way.  Everything is fine until I turn the heater off.  Then I get a back draft at times and it blows smoke into the garage.  Its just too darn windy here!

[woodjointer]

I think a chimney cap would help., to much snow on the roof might have to wait till spring!

[woodjointer]

I installed a new valve to control oil flow, just a simple 1/4 " ball valve. works much better, I made a sort of indicator gauge for it since very litle movement is needed for adjustment. Here is a few pics, I also added a pid which for the time being is just for temp but i would like to use it to control a pump I am planning on wrapping the heater with about 50 feet of 3/4 soft copper and splicing it in on the return side of my hot water sytem to heat my radiators.

[woodjointer]

I compared last Decembers electric bill to this years, I save $201!! Thats just one month!!
I start the heater around 6 am and let it go during the day I check it when I come for lunch and several times during the evening. Before I go to sleep I try to estimate how much oil to pump into the tank so i can time when it goes out (around 4 am is perfect), that way it is cool enough to build a new fire by 6am. I added a transparent 5 gallon tank and a pump with plumbing to a 55 gallon drum on the otherside of the basement, no more filling jugs and filling that bucket!!