Whose got a biomass boiler here?

tee-bee_2

Hi all,

We live in a village with no access to Natural Gas.

Our property being a 4 bedroom semi-D 1969 build. We had the cavity walls insulated and about 210mm of loft insulation.

We recently invested in a 3kw Solar PV solution and a wood burning stove in the living room area.

We're now thinking of replacing our LPG CH & DWH for either a bio-mass or ASHP solution.

We had a visit from 2 MCS installers. One of them saying the bio-mass solution is ideal, the other says the ASHP can also work but haven't ruled out on Bio-mass.

We'll get pricing soon, but bio-mass is expected to price GBP 2K++ more than ASHP.

I've done enough research on ASHP, but would like to know more on Bio-mass.. can any bio-mass owners out there share their experience and the set-up they have?

We would like to know how many tonnes of wood pellet is consumed with their unit annually.. and the overall financial cost in maintaining the system.

Thanks

Canucklehead

tee-bee wrote: »

Hi all,

We live in a village with no access to Natural Gas.

Our property being a 4 bedroom semi-D 1969 build. We had the cavity walls insulated and about 210mm of loft insulation.

We recently invested in a 3kw Solar PV solution and a wood burning stove in the living room area.

We're now thinking of replacing our LPG CH & DWH for either a bio-mass or ASHP solution.

We had a visit from 2 MCS installers. One of them saying the bio-mass solution is ideal, the other says the ASHP can also work but haven't ruled out on Bio-mass.

We'll get pricing soon, but bio-mass is expected to price GBP 2K++ more than ASHP.

I've done enough research on ASHP, but would like to know more on Bio-mass.. can any bio-mass owners out there share their experience and the set-up they have?

We would like to know how many tonnes of wood pellet is consumed with their unit annually.. and the overall financial cost in maintaining the system.

Thanks

Hi: answered your post on another thread before I saw this one.If you haven't yet, see the Biomass Energy Centre website for lots of great info.

Canucklehead

tee-bee_2

Canucklehead wrote: »

Hi: answered your post on another thread before I saw this one.If you haven't yet, see the Biomass Energy Centre website for lots of great info.

Canucklehead

Thanks for that.. but would love to hear from some bio-mass owners out there to share their experience.

Canucklehead

tee-bee wrote: »

Thanks for that.. but would love to hear from some bio-mass owners out there to share their experience.

You're welcome. I suspect not many MSErs have any experience with biomass wood pellet boilers tbh :however, a few HETAS installers and sweeps post on here.

As I asked in repsonse to your other post, what boiler are you looking at?

Canucklehead

tee-bee_2

Canucklehead wrote: »

You're welcome. I suspect not many MSErs have any experience with biomass wood pellet boilers tbh :however, a few HETAS installers and sweeps post on here.

As I asked in repsonse to your other post, what boiler are you looking at?

Canucklehead

We're not too certain.. one of the MCE recommend a Baxi and other an Austrain make.

We'll find out on Monday on the models. The only major disadvantage on our end could be storage space for the 1 tonne of pellets. Based on our research online, it would seem 6 tonnes is the norm for a property of our size annually.

Canucklehead

Windhager? Quality pellet boilers. Maybe Froling...no experience with them. I believe the Baxi is based on a Windhager design.

Let us know how you get on.


Canucklehead

tee-bee_2

Sure.. will find out on pricing.

Our concerns is storage space.. no room to have over a tonne of wood pellets...

Plus currently we spend between GBP 1250-1500 on LPG annually.

If we're gonna need 6 tonnes of wood pellet.. that doesn't really make a huge saving...

perhaps ASHP is the way to go?

bernithebiker

We have a Guntamatic which has been excellent.

But you MUST find a plumber who knows what he's doing to install boilers like these.

[Deleted User]

we have one. MCZ musa hydro
http://www.mcz.it/en/p123-musa.html

we only need to use 1 tonne of premium pellets a year as the 4 bed house is eco with solar panels etc and very highly insulated. Pellets cost £260 a tonne delivered in 10kg bags. Stove is on just from 5-8 am at the moment in order to top up the hot water

tee-bee_2

Thanks kitte & bernithebiker,

How efficient is the boiler? Does it take a while to heat the CH & DWH?

Also, in terms of controllability? is it all electronic and it works like an existing gas boiler? i.e. thermostat to measure the room temperatures?

Is it just a matter of topping it up with wood pellets then it's on automatic via a programme panel?

Might I ask how often you have to top-up the boiler? and the maintenance cost?

We're looking to replace our existing LPG set-up.

Thanks

bernithebiker

tee-bee wrote: »

Thanks kitte & bernithebiker,

How efficient is the boiler? Does it take a while to heat the CH & DWH?

94%. No, pretty quick.

Also, in terms of controllability? is it all electronic and it works like an existing gas boiler? i.e. thermostat to measure the room temperatures?

Yes, fully electronically controlled.

Is it just a matter of topping it up with wood pellets then it's on automatic via a programme panel?

Mine is logs, but otherwise yes. Fill and go.

Might I ask how often you have to top-up the boiler? and the maintenance cost?

Twice a day, but our house is very big and not that well insulated. We have 2000 litres of buffer tank.

We're looking to replace our existing LPG set-up.

Good idea.

Answers above