best wood Pellet store / Hopper?

peat

From Forestry Commission statistics:

The UK was the third largest net importer (imports less exports) of forest products in 2010, behind China and Japan.

Hebbo_2

We have had a MCZ Musa 15Kw for the past 10 months and we love it. We bought a house that needed renovation in a village without mains gas. So, rather than install a new oil boiler we went with the pellet boiler option instead. It sits in our dining room in a big old fireplace. Got the £950 RHPP no problem and, like everyone else are hoping for the RHI payments to kick in next summer but I'm not holding my breath.

It doesn't hold a great deal in the hopper about 25-30Kg so it needs filling pretty much everyday in winter. My wife works from home so the heating is on all day from 0700 to 2300. It's been below zero for the past few days outside and we are using about 20Kg of pellets per day to keep the inside at around 22 degrees. Our house is very old but we had it pretty well insulated during the renovation. We've not had it a year yet but I estimate that we'll use about 4 to 5 tonnes in a year. So £1000 to £1250 per year, similar to our old gas bill I reckon but much cheaper than oil or LPG.

We bought a large plastic storage box to hold the bags of pellets in. It's not the prettiest of things at the front of the house and we will replace it eventually with something a bit prettier, but it works for now. It has kept everything dry. It doesn't quite hold a tonne though, so we store a few bags inside aswell. It's a KETER Store-it-out XL if anyone is interested, amazon have them for £135 ish.

theballboy

awaiting my quote for the mcz red compact boiler installed

We will be putting in a dry stove in the sitting room also so currently looking at those. Ruled out the wet based system. Our primary heat system will be the pellet boiler. Had thought of trying to get a pellet stove too but seem too expensive vs simple multifuel

[Deleted User]

Hebbo wrote: »

We have had a MCZ Musa 15Kw for the past 10 months
It doesn't hold a great deal in the hopper about 25-30Kg so it needs filling pretty much everyday in winter. My wife works from home so the heating is on all day from 0700 to 2300. It's been below zero for the past few days outside and we are using about 20Kg of pellets per day to keep the inside at around 22 degrees. Our house is very old but we had it pretty well insulated during the renovation. We've not had it a year yet but I estimate that we'll use about 4 to 5 tonnes in a year. So £1000 to £1250 per year, similar to our old gas bill I reckon but much cheaper than oil or LPG.

at last!!! another mcz user. I was looking for someone to compare notes with when we started in july 2010. Which actual one do you have? ours is the 15kw musa hydro and hopper size is 15kg. We also keep the set thermostat at 22 degrees but use any of a variety of programmes, depending on solar gain. We use about one tonne per year so far, four bedroom house with study, utility, snug and open plan lounge/dining/kitchen. Total heating cost is £260 a year with electric £360 on top and fit payment is £1000

Hebbo_2

We have the MCZ Musa Hydro 15Kw. The capacity is quoted as 44 litres in the spec. I'm not sure what that equates to in Kg but ours takes 2-3 bags (20-30Kg) in the hopper.

We've not got solar hooked up yet but the Thermal Store is ready for it when we do. Wow you use a quarter of the pellets that we do. I really must get me some solar panels.

theballboy

Thats a question Iv been asking at the minute

Want to make sure that the option is there to add a thermal store and panels at a later date.


Am I correct in thinking that a buffer tank can act as the thermal store? or will that be separate?

[Deleted User]

our house is eco and designed to get the most from the sun. Solar gain occurs when the sun warms the inside of the house, which it does between early september and end of april, when the sun is low enough. We have large triple glazed windows on the south side and the floor is a heat sink as is the wall behind the stove, which separates the snug. We have no heating in the snug as it isn`t needed. We have a solar shade verandah above the ground floor, along the whole south side, so that when the sun is high, then the house is shaded from the sun and the temperature doesn`t get too high. There is also a similar overhang over the verandah to shade the top part of the house, so we can sit on the verandah. The two solar panels sit on this overhang and are very efficient hot water providers. We put solar shading blinds up and manage the incoming sun and heat very well. We still pull some part way down at times because the house stays warm and doesn`t need the extra gain. The house is sort of built like insulated compartments and has a mechanical humidity controlled ventilation system

The pv system is on a sort of angled rack and sits on a flat roof that slopes slightly down to the north side, the pv system face south, this roof provides rainwater for the harvesting system, so our water bills are half. We bought from a builder who was working closely with university research people re materials, efficiency and so on. Just a normal priced but innovative house and lucky to be in a lovely setting in a village and we were lucky

hebbo, maybe the newer designs have a bigger hopper, ours definitely takes only 15 kg max. We last had it on yesterday between 11 and 1. We may or may not press the button today, depends on the sun and on the water temperature. The tank is highly insulated and we use the dishwasher in winter, when we can, so the hot water lasts quite a while as we prefer showers

Re stove cleaning, well we just do a quick vacuum of the burner area on a daily basis, using a henry. They we do the scraping and door clean on a saturday and that is all but we do like to get a professional service and flue clean each summer, although it doesn`t really need it, however it is good for house insurance

theballboy

lostinrates wrote: »

Mcs reg installer, yes.

I will share the name of the boiler etc when I feel that we are certain not to go into a legal dispute with the supplier. ATM its far from certain.

any progress on your boiler woes? Did you get it sorted?


I have just started the ball rolling on installing a ponast with buffer tank. So hopefully it all goes smoothly

nqsib

DanRichards wrote: »

I started a thread about this a while ago. We've had our MCZ boiler for 3 months now. Everythings great about it, and if i can offer any advice, it would be to go for it!

Hopper wise, we decided against one. I think we were quoted about 2k for the grant 3.5 tonne, but make sure you check what savings youll make between a pallet delivery of bagged pellets and a blown delivery. Remember that you wont ever be getting a delivery of 3.5 tonnes as you wont let the pellets run out before ordering a new delivery. So make sure you get quotes for blown deliveries of 3 tonnes.
We worked out that the savings weren't enough to spend 2k on a hopper. We have our boiler in the garage with a 60kilo hopper and i simply chuck a bag or 2 in every morning before work to keep it topped up. Simple!

Good luck.

Thank you for the info. Can you tell me how noisy the red boiler is, I'm thinking of getting one put in my kitchen and sticking it in a cupboard. What is the noise level compared to a washing machine / dishwasher please

murphydog999

To those that have had the MCZ's fitted, who did them for you, the only stockists seem to be in London and Suffolk?