Restricted operating modes for oil primary

A control system for an oil heating system, comprising:

• an oil flow control selectively controllable to deliver oil to a combustion area of the oil heating system;
• an ignition control selectively actuable to ignite oil in the combustion area;
• a combustion control normally operative in a combustion mode to activate the oil flow control and the ignition control in response to a need for heat to be produced by the heating system;
• an ignition detector providing an indication of the state of combustion of oil in the combustion area of the oil heating system;
• a lockout control operably connected to the ignition detector and the oil flow control, and operative in a lockout mode to cause the oil flow control to shut off delivery of oil to the combustion area if satisfactory combustion is not detected within a lockout time interval;
• a reset control operatively connected to receive user reset commands, and connected to selectively release the lockout mode to permit attempted initiation of the combustion mode;
• and
• the reset control operative in response to the occurrence of multiple unsuccessful attempts to initiate the combustion mode to require a waiting time period before releasing the lockout mode for a successive attempt.

A method of controlling combustion in an oil heating system, comprising:

• initiating oil combustion in response to thermostat signals calling for heat;
• detecting whether combustion has been achieved within a lockout time interval after attempted combustion;
• in response to failure to achieve combustion within the lockout time interval, preventing the system from further attempts to initiate combustion in response to thermostat signals calling for heat;
• in response to a user reset input, permitting a further attempt to initiate combustion;
• and
• in response to a number of successive unsuccessful attempts to initiate combustion, waiting for the expiration of a waiting period before again attempting to initiate combustion in response to a successive user reset input.