10/17/22, 9:50 PM 1. What Is Boiler Reset?

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1. What Is Boiler Reset? 1. What Is Boiler Reset?
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Boiler reset, or Outside Boiler Reset is an automated algorithm that controls the temperature limit of a hot water
7. Compiler and Tools boiler based on the outside temperature in order to obtain higher efficiency.
8. Contact Let’s look at how a typical hot water based heating system works.
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 A thermostat in the building signals a call for heat, causing the boiler to circulate hot water to that zone. If the
circulating water is below a set limit the burner will fire, heating the water in the boiler to a temperature limit set
point (typically around 180-185⁰F controlled by the aquastat seting). 

When this limit is reached the burner shuts off and hot water will continue to circulate until the demand for heat
from the calling thermostat is satisfied. This may involve several burner on/off cycles.  In some systems, once the
demand is satisfied, the boiler will simply be allowed to cool to room temperature if no other call for heat is
received.  This may be fine when it’s 20⁰ outside since the building most likely needs a lot of energy to get it up to
temp and the boiler will probably be called upon again before it gets a chance to fully cool down.

Things are much different when it’s a cool early autumn day of about 65⁰. In this case, with the limit set to 180⁰, we
might likely satisfy the demand in a single burner cycle that, by sending all that 180⁰ water into the zone, may
actually overshoot the desired temperature, wasting heat. Furthermore, when the boiler shuts down, it may still
have a large amount of the heat it generated in the heat-up cycle, which will simply dissipate as the boiler cools to
ambient temp.

By adding a reset controller to this system, we can automatically adjust (or reset) the boiler temperature limit based
on the outside temperature, in a way calculated to match the supply of energy to the anticipated demand.   In the
case of our 65⁰ day example, perhaps the controller will limit the boiler to 140⁰. At this temperature the system may
need more than one cycle to satisfy the demand but they will be much shorter and less likely to overshoot the
desired zone temperature. Less heat will be wasted in the final cool down since the boiler is at a lower temp to
begin with.

Here's a graph of the outside reset settings I'm starting out with (I will most likely tweak these as I get more
experience with the system)  It shows, for example, when it's 65⁰ outside the limit will be set at 140⁰ and when it's
20⁰ outside the limit will be set at 180⁰. 

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Inside Boiler Reset

Using an Outside Boiler Reset algorithm gives us a great deal of improvement over the efficiency of the heating
system but it’s not without some problems.   Everything is based on the assumptions we used to create the
Outside Reset Limit Table values.  I initially gathered data from the system by using just the data logging functions
of the project without it actually controlling the system. I would choose a fixed limit temp and see how the system
reacted for a few days at that setting over different outside temps. This data gave me the “best guess” data to start
with and I’m sure this would improve the operation of the system.  The problem is that the limit setting is based on
outside temperature only and doesn’t take into account other variables like how well the room or building uses the
heat. Is it tight and well insulated or drafty and poorly insulated? It may be 35⁰ outside on a bright sunny day with
no wind or the same temp in the middle of a windy night. The controller only knows that it’s 35⁰ and cannot
anticipate the demand that will be required.

Enter Inside Boiler Reset Control.

One way to implement inside reset control would be to install temperature sensors in each heated part of the
building to monitor the rate at which the heat is being used. This is a lot of work. Luckily there an easier way that
should work just as well. We can estimate how well the building uses the heat we supply simply by recording how
often it demands heat over a fixed period of time. If we assume the thermostat in a heated space is at a fixed
setting, a well insulated space that gets some help from sunshine through it’s windows may call for heat once or
twice an hour. Another space that gets no solar heat input and is drafty or poorly insulated may call for heat every
5-10 minutes in order to maintain the same thermostat setting.  So by monitoring how often the system calls for
heat over a fixed period of time, we can get an indication of the demand that will likely be placed on it and adjust
the limit temperature accordingly.

Research has shown that it’s better to keep the heating system circulators running longer at lower temperatures
than to have them on for short, high temperature bursts because there is less energy required to make a small
change and less potential for thermostat overshoot.

Using those assumptions we can measure the “demand-on” time, or the time the circulator is running and compare
it to the “demand-off” time.  We can also choose a period of time or “time window” and calculate a “demand-on”
percentage over that fixed time window. (something like  (total “demand-on” time)/(time window setting)= demand-
on percentage) So for example if over a 4 hour period, the circulator was ON for 3 hours and OFF for 1 hour our
demand-on percentage would be .75%.

So if we further assume that keeping the circulator on more often than off is a good thing, we can make
adjustments to our limit temperature to try to keep the demand percentage above 50%.

With fixed conditions (outside temp, thermostat setting, rate of heat loss) a higher limit temperature should produce
a lower demand percentage and a lower limit temp will produce more frequent calls for heat thus a higher demand
percentage. (note: lower boiler temperature should mean less heat waste and better system efficiency)

At this point I’m working on a LOT of assumptions and since I’ve not yet actually run the controller over a full
heating season the data is really best guess so far.  Keeping with the assumption that lower limit temp (within
reason) is a good thing I’ve come up with an Inside Reset Adjustment Table to be used to modify the limit value
determined by the outside limit calculation.

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The table above shows that with a 60% demand-on percentage (our target value) no adjustment is made. With a
40% demand-on, the limit temperature would be reduced by 10⁰ and with demand-on at 80% the limit would be
increased by 15⁰.

So as further example, with an outside temperature of 45⁰, and the demand-on percentage calculated to be 40%,
the final limit temperature would be 140⁰ 

(outside reset table @ 45⁰ = 150) - (inside reset table @ 40%= -10⁰) 

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