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Energy Saver: Furnace, Boiler & Woodstove Combustion
(continued ...) and a few drops of dish washing detergent. I recommend using some rubberized fiber reinforced gloves as there may be sharp edges on the heat exchanger. Use a terry cloth that has soft scrubbing action. An old bath towel will work well. Wipe down every part you can get to. Feed the terry cloth down through the slots and pull it through to the other side. A yard stick may help thread it through. When you stop seeing dirt coming out, switch to rinse mode. Dump your bucket and refill with new water and get a new terry cloth repeat work as a rinse. Floss the heat exchanger until all signs of soap are gone.
Here we have discussed an outright replacement to a high energy efficient unit as being your next step. That could be an instant 20% increase in energy efficiency. If the time is not right for you to replace your equipment, then maintain what you have until it is time to do a replacement. We worked through checking combustion efficiency. If the fuel-to-air ratio is wrong, then unused fuel is going up the chimney; 15% losses are possible. You probably should call in the pros that have a combustion gas analyzer. You can upgrade your combustion air path. Combustion air is best gotten from outside. If it is not already coming from outside it can be a full weekend job. Except for a few details, the ardent do-it-yourselfer can make it happen. A fouled heat exchanger can be cleaned. Heat exchanger cleaning is also a way to verify system health and safety. EnergyWrite.com