I realize most oil burner technicians don't carry a $1,000 Bacharach combustion analyzer, but
do "most" technicians do more than just replace the oil filter, clean the fire box, (heat exchanger), change the nozzle, check the fire over draft, and use a smoke spot tester to set the combustion air? How accurate is the
The old fashioned pump is very accurate. After you have done it a few thousand times you can tell what is a good spot. The smoke test isn't for efficiency it's the adjustment made before testing for efficiency.
The most important thing that has to be checked on every service visit is the flue. A clogged flue is what will ruin your house or possibly cause carbon monoxide poisoning.
Efficiency test that tell you 80% or 70% are kind of missleading to the home owner anyway in my opinion, because you could have a 30 year old coal conversion boiler get 78-80% The thing is I could put in a new boiler with the same reading and your still going to save alot of fuel just because it is going to do the job much quicker.
If your boiler or furnace is over 20 years old you need to start thinking about replacing it.
