Wood Pellet / Woodchip / Grain / Log Burning Boilers - Alternative to Oil Heating

s2sap

I have carried out fairly extensive research on the viability of these boilers and would be pleased to hear from anyone with first hand experience. We plan to install a boiler that burns many different sources of fuel so that we can grow / buy whichever is cheapest.

I know about the grant system and the cost of these boilers but am really looking to hear from someone who is perhaps using one already to hear their experiences.

For those of you who may also be interested in these boilers to give you a rough example of fuel costs 2 tonne of wood pellet approximately equals 1000 litres of oil. 2 tonne of wood pellet currently costs £250. If you are from the farming community and can grow grain then 2.5 tonne of grain equals 1000 litres of oil.

I would particularly be keen to hear from someone running a log or grain burning boiler.

Again for those that may be interested the boilers do require a capital outlay at start but payback should be fairly quick and who knows where oil prices will be in the future.

If anyone has any first hand info I would be delighted to hear from them, and if anybody wants to hear more about my findings to date I would be glad to help.

LouRoo

We're hoping to get a wood pellet boiler in soon - we secured a grant but are now waiting to raise our part of the cost! I don't know why, and it seems pretty silly when the gov's trying to encourage people to be greener, the grants system finished back in March, so there now aren't any grants at all for domestic customers. http://www.actionrenewables.org/site/default.asp?catid=4940&parentid=4880

stacey777

i dont know to much about it but iv heard that the wood pellets burning stoves are not the way to go i have heard of just wood burning stoves and have been told that you can install them for £1800. And that a tone of wood is £40. I dont know how long it would keep you going. there is a website called down stoves and flues and it gives all the jargon about the whole ins and outs off stoves etc. i had my chimney swept and was told all this info from the chimney sweep.

Are there grants left then??? :mad: missed that one

wacko911

Well for anyone considering switching to wood buring (not pellet) we bought and just installeda multi fuel stove:

The stove is a mulberry yeats it has a back boiler which outputs 6.2kW to water and 2.5kW to the room. Its connected to 7 rads however only 4-5 of these will be in use due to the heat it puts out to the living room and kitchen. It is also connected to the hot water tank. Our existing oil heating is also still connected and can be used as a backup.

The stove has to be manually lit, however this is very easy, some newspaper and a couple of chopped logs and its going in minutes. There is an air valve at the front that controls the burn, you can adjust the amount of heat output by opening and closing the valve. When going out or to bed, leaving the valve nearly closed keeps the fire in overnight, and opening the valve in the morning results in a roaring fire within mimutes.

Here is a picture of our installed stove (click to enlarge):


Install costs:
Stove £630 from http://www.allfiredupstoves.com/ (NI)
Pipes to connect to existing chimney £35 + £35 from the same place

Plumbing (we had an existing back boiler so just needed it removed and 2 heating pipes connected up) and he connected the stove up to the chimney with fire cement - £200

Built a new fireplace:
Bricks £150, slate £170, railway sleeper £100 - a friend done all the work so no labour costs.

Wood logs: £1 a bag, £20 a trailor or £50 for a massive trailer load and another mate has offered free wood if I want to cut my own from his orchard.

Not really had it going that much as the weather has been warm. There are no fumes as the system is closed, and the ashes need emptied once a day which can be done with the stove lit. The airwash system keeps the smoke away from the glass keeping it nice an clean.

Should pay for itself in less than 2 years with with a saving in oil (currently £600+ a fill for a 900l tank). No grants availaibe as fas as I know and I think the stove is 70 odd percent efficient, considering an open fire is 20% this isnt a bad figure.

Pippilongstocking

Um grants - if you live in scotland you might qualify for this
http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/schri/household/grant.cfm

'Funding for householders is set at 30% of the installed cost of a renewable measure up to £4,000. Householders can also apply for separate grants for two different technologies.'

Try EST website for other areas, I only know about scotland cos I live here and am working on a biomass project - I saw some of the newer boilers at all energy and spoke to folk about pellets//woodchip etc - I was quoted £44/tonne for pellets delivered anywhere in Scotland - average consumption would mean that should last for about 100 days ?!!! not sure about that figure but its a damn sight cheaper than oil.

I personally would got for something versitile ie I think chip stoves can do both pellets and chips, but pellet stoves aren't so versitile - worth really looking around andn keeping your options open, as with oil, just cos pellets aren't very expensive now that might change?! Am an eternal pessimist.......

Goodluck - its a hugely interesting area, she says oh no geekylady!!!

Another thing to think about is this, I have a garden shredder at home, which makes great chips out of willow (my project is on willow) and I used them on an open fire which worked ok, but would have been so much better in a woodburning stove or boiler - back to the geekiwork!!

What that was meant to imply was this, if any woody material can be chipped and used for fuel, then if you buy a shredder, mine was about 200 quid, then you can shred just about anything (woody) you can get your hands on, don't compost it, use it to keep your house warm.....am seriously thinking about growing some willow etc of my own for our house - back to the good life!!

Did you know 75% of the energy used in your house is for spacial heating/hot water requirements - yeah I am that sad to know this!!!

Where I live (rurally) over 70% of folk are in what's called fuel poverty (ie where you spend more than 10% of your household income on fuel which has gone up about 450% in past 6 years) - ok rant over am stopping now!!

Goodluck!!!!!!!!

Pippilongstocking

OK am a numpty - this is a NI thread - whoops - well Hi to you all - someone might want to move this to a more 'scottish thread?!'

Never claimed to be thorough just impulsive!!

darrenpollock

I have just installed a Gerkros wood pellet system in a new build and when I enquired about grants for other options the guys at Action Renewables advised that the grants are off from them but that NI residents can still avail of grants sourced from the mainland. I didn't take any further details from him but perhaps A.R. would be able to help further?
We hope to move in shortly so will advise how the system works out but we are hoping for great savings.

nadnad

the grants stopped in march but they usually start again in the new year i think. we just moved into our new house (took 3 years from start to finish) and we did an incredible amount of research on all forms of renewable energy. looked at geothermal heat pumps first - too expensive initial cost and then they take a LOT of electricity to run and takes about 15 years to break even. Looked at wood pellet burners and were all on for getting one until we heard from 3 different people who had them that they had a LOT of trouble with them. Another guy I know was about to get his installed and rang up to order the pellets and was told it would be 6 weeks before he could get them (apparently there arent very many suppliers). We ended up going for an ordinary oil burner, but will still look at the pellets in the years to come when maybe they are doing a bit better and will probably run the oil and pellets side by side, as a friend of mine is about to do, so I'll post again when she sees how this is going.

pgpl0177

There is a comapny that are apparently charging wood pellets for £95 a tonne.

www.liverpoolwoodpellets.co.uk

Locksmith

We had a gerkros wood pellet burner installed a few months ago and it is going well. There were a few teething problems getting it set right but the installer has been great. He has sent out maintenance straight away and has delivered pellets when he said he would.

We got a grant back in march but even if you don't get the grant the savings are so good you will recoup your money in a short space of time.

My oil dd was £100 per month and we are now looking at £30 - £35 per month.

Anybody who wants to pm me for more details about our installer feel free.

suki1964

Locksmith wrote: »

We had a gerkros wood pellet burner installed a few months ago and it is going well. There were a few teething problems getting it set right but the installer has been great. He has sent out maintenance straight away and has delivered pellets when he said he would.

We got a grant back in march but even if you don't get the grant the savings are so good you will recoup your money in a short space of time.

My oil dd was £100 per month and we are now looking at £30 - £35 per month.

Anybody who wants to pm me for more details about our installer feel free.

So how much was the initial outlay?