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Ed Sirett Ed Sirett is offline
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Default Pilot light gas usage

On Wed, 06 Dec 2006 09:18:40 -0800, John Laird wrote:

Frank Lee Speke-King wrote:
wrote:

I've worked out that the pilot light on my old Vaillant combi boiler
uses the equivalent of 60UKP of gas per year, does this sound right?


Yep. Taking meter readings (mine's a cubic metres one and reads to the
third decimal place) my ancient Glowworm boiler uses 0.44 cu.m per day
just on the pilot light.


That's nearly 5kWh per day, which suggest the pilot flame is producing
200W. I suppose it will be helping to keep the (enormous) heat
exchanger warm for the next time you need hot water or heating.

Some interesting stats at:
http://www.homeenergy.org/archive/he...97/970103.html


I have done some of my own tests and calcs and would say that 50-200W give
or take is plausible. This is 2 magnitudes smaller than when in operation,
but is 24/7. Hence the several % effect on the overall annual energy usage.

I don't agree (I wouldn't would I?) with those who _automatically_ state
that a modern boiler is less reliable than a traditional type.

A _quality_ modern boiler might also have a long life. Electronics are not
unreliable per se. The materials used are potentially better than those
used traditionally.

--
Ed Sirett - Property maintainer and registered gas fitter.
The FAQ for uk.diy is at http://www.diyfaq.org.uk
Gas fitting FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/GasFitting.html
Sealed CH FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/SealedCH.html
Choosing a Boiler FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/BoilerChoice.html
Gas Fitting Standards Docs he http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/GasFittingStandards