So the big question, can I have a smart oil meter?
Considering the reasons for rolling out "smart" meters, there's no point.
If all you are interesting in doing is measuring flow, just buy a flow meter that has some sort of electrical output and connect it to a suitable logging system.
I've been trying for years to find a practical way of metering my LPG, to give real-time flow data, but have never really got very far.
Same thing applies, just go and find a flow meter with an electrical output of some sort. The only difference between your LPG and mains gas is that the gas vapour has slightly difference characteristics - so you need a meter calibrated accordingly, otherwise it's identical to one for mains gas. Without digging further into what meters are supported, here's some
pulse modules to fit them.
Is there some reason why oil burners can't be 'modulated'?
I suspect that some can - to a limited extent. But mostly, it's a case of having a pump spray liquid oil through a calibrated nozzle into a forced air flow. If you try and change the flow rate, it affects the atomisation of the liquid - so slow the pump down/reduce the pressure and you get larger droplets that don't burn well.
Anyway, assuming they aren't, how does one monitor the burn time - by taking a feed from the pump's electrical supply?
From the pump, or for some, an internal solenoid.
At church the system is really simple - the external controls just apply power to the burner unit. When powered up (unless it's previously tripped out) it runs up the fan, turns on the high voltage spark generator, and opens a solenoid to let oil to the nozzle. As long as it lights, it'll continue to burn until power is removed.
I thought of doing similar with my (ancient and not 'modulated') LPG boiler. However, I then realised that whilst I could easily monitor ('electrically') when the heating system was 'calling for heat' from the boiler, that wouldn't tell me whether the burner was alight or not, since that was controlled thermostatically within the boiler. I suppose it would not be beyond the wit of man (or even me) to devise a sensor that would indicate when the main burner was alight (which I suppose could be based on a standard gas 'thermocouple), but I've never bothered!
Or, you could simply tap into the solenoid control to monitor when there's voltage applied. Likely to cause howls of "OMG, you're trying to blow up half the town" if you ever have a professional in to service it, but other than that there should be no problem. Some boilers have a "burner lit" indicator, so putting an opto-coupler in series with that would achieve the same result.
