Converting a standing pilot to an intermittent pilot kit

[alia176]

Has anyone converted their gas/LP appliance over from a standing pilot to an intermittent pilot kit? I see that Honeywell makes a kit that should work. I'm thinking of doing this on my Domestic water heater which needs 36,000 BTU. Looks like this kit uses the VR series valve which is good for 30k - 415k btu/hr. I have an older Burnham Series 2 Boiler that I may convert over if the domestic water heater project goes smoothly.

The actual installation seems simple enough but as always, when it comes messing with combustion appliance, utmost safety must be a priority. I've worked on gas appliances before and have done gas plumbing work as well.

Let me know if any of you have converted your gas appliance using this retro kit.

Thanks.

 

[PAToyota]

Hmmm... Didn't even consider that something like that was possible.

I do shut off my pilot light over the summer because I found that I could save about $10 or more a month. Add in the savings for the rest of the year and it would pay for itself in a couple years (I was seeing about $250~$300 price?).

Might have to check in with my local distributor to see what I could get one for - unless you've found an online source?

I downloaded the PDF and I'm going to compare things to my furnace to "walk through" how I'd have to go about installing it.

Wish I had known about these years ago!

 

[PAToyota]

A little more searching turned it up here for about $165 and $10 for shipping.

So, if I save $10 a year I'd repay it in a year and a half. Seems like a no-brainer.

Next question is whether it is worth it to put one on my water heater as well...

 

[alia176]

Glad you found them online, they seem to be all over the place. I was contemplating buying them from Amazon vs Ebay, simply from the stand point of DOA product. Easier to deal with Amazon vs some guy on Ebay.

Since I'm on Propane, I think converting to this kit would yield some $$, specially in the boiler. I can hear that pilot running in another room! Even though we use the wood stove for heat, the boiler is on standby during winter and I just hate hearing that pilot running continuously when I go to the basement.

I'm going to start with the water heater since it's easier to access and more modern than the boiler. Seems to be a common conversion for folks who keep losing their pilot flame due to downdrafts from the outside.

Now, here's the interesting thing - when I called Honeywell for some more info, I was immediately told to call my "local contractor" since this is a "contractor installed" item. Yeah, whatever! I'd like to see what they'd cost local and if they'd sell me direct.

Most of the units I'm seeing online are good for up to 150kbtu but my boiler an an input rating of 164kbtu. I need to get to the bottom of this.

Once you've studied the PDF, you'll see that this is a very easy kit to install.

 

[PAToyota]

Yeah, not exactly the sort of thing I'd want to buy on eBay from someone who may have gotten it as a second or some other questionable chain of ownership...

The first time I shut off the pilot light I was a bit amazed at how much my bill dropped. I was thinking a couple bucks. So saving $50~$70 over the course of the season was a bit of an eye-opener.

I ran into the same thing when I installed my AprilAire humidifier. AprilAire was very adamant that it be installed by a certified contractor and all. Some more digging turned up an online source and it wasn't at all rocket surgery to get it installed. Saved a bundle on initial cost and what they wanted for labor to install it.

My online searches turned up that a lot of people seem to be using them for homebrewing setups for their burners. Seems to be the standard go-to item for such things.

The 150kbtu rating is likely based on how much the valve will flow. Note that they offer two valves for the kit - the VR8304M or the VR8204A. The VR8204A flows 150 ft3/hr while the VR8304M flows 270 ft3/hr. You'd certainly want the VR8304M for the greater flow. If you have the specifications on your boiler, see if it says anything about how much flow it needs. Or check to see if you can find a model number on your current valve to see how much it flows. Then compare that to the 270 ft3/hr. Just going by kbtu, you're within 10%.

I'd be inclined to say that it will be close enough to work, that you just won't get the full 164kbtu output. Sort of like never running an engine at full throttle. Particularly using the boiler for standby heat, I doubt you're going to notice the difference if it doesn't heat up quite as quickly and I don't see how it would do any damage to the system. If you were talking a more significant difference there could potentially be issues of it not being able to burn hot enough or something. Honestly, I don't know. Perhaps someone more familiar with burner technology could chime in.

 

[alia176]

It's time I followed up on this thread. I waited till the end of the heating season to do this just in case I screw the pooch royally! It's very easy to return to the old system if for some reason I messed up something.

Ended up purchasing the Honeywell Y8610U4001 Y-Pack Pilot conversion kit from Amazon for $175. This was installed in the Boiler and it was a snap. Took less than two hours, this included vacuuming out the boiler combustion area. System works as advertised and I'm very pleased. A very nice YouTube video showed a plumber doing the same thing on a boiler. He purchased a separate Universal Pilot kit from Honeywell to supplement the retrofit kit.

The domestic water heater will not be able to accommodate this retrofit kit as it is a different animal. There's no 24vac used in the water heater like the boiler does. I'm thinking that when it's time to change out the water heater, I'll purchase an unit with intermittent pilot (electric ignition) feature built in.