Energy Usage, Conservation and Weather Stripping - Is it safe to turn off the emergency oil burner switch?

OK, so here's the deal..

I live in Maine and just locked in a price of home heating oil for next for $5.05 a gallon. So needless to say I am trying to cut back my use of oil as much as possible. I have done a number of energy saving projects including new windows, insulating pipes, shutting off rooms not in use, burning more wood, etc.

My hot water comes from oil, and it is a tankless system. I can hear the oil burner kicking in at night, presumably to create hot water..which I do not need at 3am. Last winter I didn't need oil at all for heat until December due to burning wood. So really, I just need it now for hot water. My understanding is if I turn off the emergency switch at the top of the stairs, that will prevent it from kicking on. If I need hot water, I just turn it back and wait 10 minutes. Since all my water usage takes place in the morning before I leave for work, I could live with this.

Is there any reason this would be unsafe or damage my heating system? I know several Mainers who either are doing this or have for years without a problem.

I really need to cut back and would like to try this.

Thanks for any thoughts.

http://www.tanklesswaterheaterguide.com/

This is a site you may want to look into. It eliminates the use of the oil boiler for domestic hot water use.

You could turn off the boiler, however, if the basement dropped below freezing during the night, your pipes may freeze. As far as hurting the unit from turning it on and off, it is usually not advisable to do this for short periods of time and turning it off when the burner is on.

Thank you so much for your reply. I will check out the link you sent me and do some reading on those types of systems.

Couple of clarifying points:

I do understand that it would unwise and unsafe to do this during the winter when my pipes could freeze. That was not my intent.

I was hoping to turn it off now through the fall since I only need the furnace on for hot water right now.

It sounds like...and correct me if I'm wrong, you are saying not to switch it off if the furnace is running. Also, it may not be worth the savings to shut it off for short periods of time.

Is that about right?

Thanks again, I appreciate your help.

That is correct, do not shut it off when the furnace is running or the burner is on. And it is not cost effective to shut it off for short periods, let's say for less than an hour.

Thank you very much for clarifying.

Basically what I was doing was turning it on in the morning, taking care of showers and dishes, then shutting it off. So it was basically on for maybe 3 hours, then off for 21. So it sounds like that may be worth it when done that way.

However occasionally I'd forget to shut it off and hear it running and go switch it off. I won't do that now, I'll just wait until it's off.

Thanks again!

Hi there. We heat exclusively with wood and also heat our water with a tankless system. I've been doing the same exact thing as you- showering/dishes and then turning the switch off until the next day. I was very glad to see this thread because I've been conncerned about wear & tear on my system. Thanks.

Well, now I have a follow-up question. I had my furnace serviced last week and ask the technician the same question. At first he responded with a definite "Yes, it'd be fine". However, once he saw my system he had second thoughts due to a gasket on the top of the furnace. He said the heating and cooling could damage the gasket.

I was wondering if anyone could enlighten me on that issue. Is that a true concern I should have?

I just found this old thread. I have a coil heating my domestic. I filled up with 2.99 oil in June and my company delivered again in september at 3.64/gallon

I used 42 gallons all summer to have the water heated. Not as bad as i thought, but still over 120 bucks.

do you turn back the water temp in summer? I turn the boiler all the way down. However, through my reading on here, that may not have been so wise of me to do but it sure saved oil vs heating at 180 all summer and scalding myself.

it's moot since i'm getting a new system this year thankfully.