Time tracking operation on boiler OKOFEN

[dirk pitt]

At the beginning of winter, I propose to follow the start numbers and operating hours of your OKOFEN pellet boiler. I found it very useful to check first if the boiler is well sized for the house. Then, even if it is theoretically well sized, the original settings are generally not well suited to your particular case. By taking a statement every 15 days or months, you can follow the evolution of values, especially if you make changes.

In order to understand the merits of the approach, I would like to make a small reminder from the "granules" file that I wrote for the forum :
The heating of a house is a system in constant balance between a heat flow that escapes from the house (losses, vmc, etc.), and an incoming heat flow (heating, sun, people inside ( do not laugh: each person brings about 100W).
Throughout the year the need to heat a house varies, but on a short scale of time (a few hours), there is a demand for heating that can be defined as practically fixed. This required heating value is always lower than the maximum power of the boiler. How does the boiler adapt to the power actually needed? By its regulation system but especially by operating INTERMITTENCE.
When the burner of your 30kW oil boiler is running, it delivers 30kW! If the need in the house is only 10kW, the burner stops 2 / 3 of the average time.
An oil or gas burner starts in a few seconds and stops instantly; a NON wood fire.
The "chopping" of power on / off is very poorly suited to burning wood. Manufacturers of pellet boilers have therefore sought ways to modulate the power of boilers by different devices more or less effective that I will not detail here. The important thing is to understand that modulation always has a minimum threshold, and that the efficiency is generally much better near full power than the minimum threshold.
So if your pellet boiler has a max power of 30kW, like your old oil boiler, it has a reduced modulation minimum power of maybe 8 or 9kW. When the heating requirement is 4 or 5 kW, it will have to stop 50% of the time. During each start-up phase, it will consume more electricity (to light the pellets), and will waste pellets that go badly or not burn; and she will have a deplorable return. During shutdown, she will also waste energy by sweeping the fireplace with a draft (for safety reasons), sending the calories in the chimney.
Conclusion: A well-dimensioned pellet boiler with well-regulated regulation must operate over long periods to be effective. To give an order of magnitude, I would say that periods of operation less than 30 or 40 mn are not favorable (whereas a fuel boiler sometimes runs 5mn). In addition, the shutdown period should be short, because in this case, the restart is better (presence of ember). It is better a pellet boiler that runs 40mn and stops 10mn than the reverse.

further down ....

[dirk pitt]

We will see how to access the parameters we are interested in OKOFEN boilers (I also learned that we say "EUKOFEN" because there is an umlaut on the O).
-Pressing the button on the left-hand side of the screen will switch on the display that normally is off. We see "pellet control" and the boiler temperature

-Two small nuts that hold the front panel of the boiler must be removed to gain access to the control board.



-by turning the wheel indicated on the picture, we make appear different parameters. The ones we are interested in are P112: start number and P113: total running time. The time of operation includes of course only the time the burner operates.



-to exit the parameters, turn the wheel until "return P100 press" and press the key.



By dividing the number of operating hours of the burner by the starting number, the average operating time of each sequence of the burner is obtained.
This parameter is the P114 but it is global so if you want to see the evolution, it will be necessary to record the values ​​at regular intervals and to calculate the number of hours and the number of start between each statement.

in fact, the P115 parameter indicates the LAST stop time and not the average stop time as I thought for a moment.

Based on what I said above, if you have an average operating time of less than 30minutes, it is necessary to suspect an oversizing or a bad parameterization of the boiler.

It would have been interesting to also have the cumulative operating time of the small pellet feed screw in the burner that would give a good idea of ​​consumption. Unfortunately, this parameter does not exist.

here; hoping that it will help you regulate your boiler at best for optimized consumption of pellets.

[Christophe]

Excellent subject! I did not think the boiler had so much parameter saved!

It would be nice if you compare your results with Did67 who also has a boiler in Pellets ökofen (how did he pronounce it your salesman?)!

Here is his installation: https://www.econologie.com/forums/photos-cha ... t5995.html

ps: how do you make such a good picture of a digital screen? Are you in macro mode?

[dirk pitt]

indeed, it would be interesting for other users to look at these values ​​to compare. I sent a pear mp beautiful helene who has a brand new boiler.
I have a file excel values ​​month by month on the first season of heating when I was doing a lot of adjustments.

in fact the boiler has many more parameters than that. my installer "forgot" his installer manual with all the interesting parameters, the ones I showed there are accessible to everyone.
the parameters displayed on this screen are the "boiler" parameters which must be distinguished from the "regulation" parameters which are contained in the heating regulator (the black block in the center of the dashboard) which has its own display and which allows above all to adjust temperatures, heating curves, DHW, and priorities with solar when present. it is especially there that it is necessary to scrape to refine the heating settings. The night temperature lowering parameters in particular gave me a hard time.
There are also two manuals: 1 super simplified with just how the hours comfort and eco or little more; and another more complete with many interesting parameters.

for the pictures of the screen, a long standing exhibition with self-timer (not to move when triggering)

[Pear Belle Helene]

Good evening Dirk,

I discover your post tonight. It is very interesting and well detailed. I did not receive your Mp it's weird but the main thing is that I read the post here.
So our boiler is on the way since October 1er. And this month of starting was very hot with us because the boiler badly adjusted I think we gave an internal temperature of 22 ° to 23 ° on average. A horror for us finally me especially who was accustomed to live with 19 °.
We ended up undressing to end up in a tee shirt so hot it was unbearable.
I waited three weeks before calling the heating engineer, I thought that maybe it was time that everything was well on the way (an idea of ​​blonde that still ) and in the meantime we have turn the knob installed in the kitchen hoping that it would do a little lower the temperature but nothing to do.

This surprised me a bit because with our old heating, we had a room thermostat in the kitchen and for example as soon as the sun was giving, our kitchen was facing south, and the heating was not started, the heat of the sun enough to heat us.
There it is not at all the same, it was sunny outside but the boiler did not stop.

The heating engineer came two weeks ago. He has to lower the curve by two points I think (I'm not sure of remembering everything) and since then we are breathing the temperature of the house being from 19 ° to 20 °.
In the rooms fortunately we have thermostatic faucets so we never got too hot.

at night the boiler switches off, finally the heating is cut and it heats the hot water if necessary.
Besides, there also for hot water we had a few "worries" of adjustment and it is not yet at the top I think. All summer, no problem with solar, the boiler has hardly ever worked. Since the end of September we have sometimes found ourselves without hot water in the evening. However it was not due to an increase in consumption, no it is two showers and zou more hot water.
The ball is 300 liters but if I read everything on the panel, when the water heats the night with the boiler, it is the upper part that heats. Suddenly the water remains warm or cold.
On the other hand when it is the solar which turns, it heats the bottom part of the balloon and there no worries I suppose because the heat rises.
Finally this is my deduction (from the blonde ) and I admit that I did not ask the heating engineer when he came.

Good when it happens to us to no longer have hot water, we realized that it was enough to press the button on the control panel and it heats up very quickly. But it's still a bit weird I think as a system. But that's not a big deal.

On the other hand I do not know how long the boiler works especially that it is super silent (unlike the other), so I go (accompany my husband) go see tomorrow by following the letter your advice (I Do not dare touch anything because it seems so complex) and take the survey.

We emptied the ashtray for the first time last week, it was filled to just over half. And there was no unburned pellet, we watched.

In short for a first month and a half of use I can say that it heats well .... too well at first and we will need a little time to learn and understand.

The only thing that is a pity as you say is not to know how much pellet you consume. We watch every week through the window the heap and we saw a small descent but difficult to estimate a quantity.

Well I was talkative, sorry and I'll let you know about my statements.

Good night. biz. Helena

[dirk pitt]

extra, happy that it's going well. you will see that the heating curve will probably still have to be adjusted because we sometimes have the pressure that it is good for a certain temperature but as soon as the outside temperature changes, it's more good.
What I can advise you is to write down your impressions on a notebook. Date style, outside temperature, thermostat setpoint and actual room temperature. when you have a dozen values, you can deduce what to change on the curve. you can do it yourself, no need for the heating engineer but I advise you to note the original values ​​of the heating foot and the slope.
other advice: use the heating and DHW programs with the same slightly shifted schedules.
indeed it is useless to start the boiler at night only for hot water. it is better for her to produce her hot water at the same times as the heating except for the first hour of heating where it is better to devote all the heat to raising the temperature of the house and then start the DHW one hour later.
always concerning the ECS, this boiler has an intelligent parameter; anti-legionellosis. One day a week, the DHW is mounted at higher temperatures, so you can set it low enough the rest of the time (50 ° C) to consume less.

read the doc, it is very instructive. if you do not have the complete doc, ask the heating engineer. at worst I can put it online.

[Did67]

extra, happy that it's going well. you will see that the heating curve will probably still have to be adjusted because we sometimes have the pressure that it is good for a certain temperature but as soon as the outside temperature changes, it's better.

Also delighted ! And I always hack too!

Normal for a curve, it may be two winters for the caller, because it is done by iteration. I put the method on the forum Futura ...

I noted parameters on an Excel table to follow up ... I therefore want to participate in your process (for information, my "absence" was a total computer failure, no more messaging, no more Internet ... I just bought one and connected ...)

I have the "installer" guide, which allows me to understand the parameters of rank 4 or 5 or 6 on the regulation or those of the 2xx series on the boiler ...

Dirk, I do not know if you have the codes for installers? I managed...

[Did67]

This surprised me a bit because with our old heating, we had a room thermostat in the kitchen and for example as soon as the sun was giving, our kitchen was facing south, and the heating was not started, the heat of the sun enough to heat us.
There it is not at all the same, it was sunny outside but the boiler did not stop.
Good night. biz. Helena

Do you have an interior atmosphere sensor on your ökofen (we pronounce "eukofen", it is a contradiction of the words "öko" = ecological / organic and Ofen = pöelle) ???

I have one, it did not react because the parameter 3-6 on the regulation was on zero (factory setting), whereas the multiplying coefficient of the correction provided by the boiler must be indicated therein as a function of the difference observed. My heating engineer had forgotten (yet he is good!).

Let me explain :

if your sensor finds that the temperature is 22 ° C instead of the desired 20 ° (I take this as an example - this temperature is set), it will for example reduce the flow temperature of water 10 ° if you put the 3-6 parameter on 5 ...

Since I did that, she's hyper-reactive. I put 5 (I am in heated floors).

It is an option (inexpensive, fifty euros of memory). It can be added. A cable to pull and connect.

It also allows to force the "day" mode. So, I programmed the "reduced" mode very early in the evening. If we stay a little longer, I "force". No need to go down to the boiler, this is done from the living room, on the probe.

Otherwise, if it's "everyone under the covers", the boiler slows down very early without turning for nothing.

[Did67]

The ball is 300 liters but if I read everything on the panel, when the water heats the night with the boiler, it is the upper part that heats. Suddenly the water remains warm or cold.
On the other hand when it is the solar which turns, it heats the bottom part of the balloon and there no worries I suppose because the heat rises.
Finally this is my deduction (blonde: Mrgreen:) and I confess not to have asked the question to the heating when he came.

Good when it happens to us to no longer have hot water, we realized that it was enough to press the button on the control panel and it heats up very quickly. But it's still a bit weird I think as a system. But that's not a big deal.

Attention blondes! It's exactly like that. And it has to be like this: hot water at the top, not curdling in the shower and always cold water down to capture any solar calorie.

On the other hand, there must be an error in your programming, because the boiler must "complete" the reheating "at the top" just before the needs if necessary, that is, if the solar gain was not sufficient. I programmed two periods: one in the evening, from 17 p.m. to 19 p.m., for the showers back from school / back from work and one in the morning (6:30 to 7:30), for the "wake-up" showers ... I think I put 50 ° C. It seems to me that it; there is a temperature of 5 °: if it is not 45 ° C, the boiler automatically "goes up" to 50 ° C. Except one day (anti-legionnellosis program).

There, you found the forcing button, that's fine. But normally, it is all the interest of the programming to have this done by the regulation and to have the water chude when necessary. But not more.

[Did67]

The only thing that is a pity as you say is not to know how much pellet you consume. We watch every week through the window the heap and we saw a small descent but difficult to estimate a quantity.


Good night. biz. Helena

Effectively ! I did not understand that they were stupid at Okofen to the point of not summing up the minutes of operation of the metering screw!

With the suction system, parameter P186 gives the hours of operation of the suction turbine. It seems to me that there is also the number of hours of operation of the extraction screw of the silo (but I do not find it there, in the doc). So after having refilled my silo, I will be able to roughly calculate the proportionality. But it will not be very fine, since they only record hours!