Biomass pellet boilers

sarba

Has anyone had a good experience with biomass pellet boiler?
Or are everyones experience like ours not fitted properly, safety issues, cost a fortune to run. Issues with RHI payments and the renewable scheme MCS. 

thozza

We have had a Grant Spira condensing pellet boiler since 2014, it's been mainly trouble free, a couple of issues including a warped door which our installer fixed under the Grant Guarantee. Recently had to have the igniter replaced, but sourced on on EBay which was less than a third the price that Grant wanted for the same item.

Apart from that it's been very good, and hasn't cost us any more in repairs than our previous LPG boiler. It heats up quickly and keeps our large detached house very warm. The RHI has been a big benefit, and we've had no issues with payments, they turn up like clockwork, we do have to fill in a declaration once a year, but that takes minutes.

We have  a local installer who is very competent and specialises in renewables, we looked at national companies at the time, but felt having a local installer with such a novel system would be best in the long run, and it has been.

ProfessorChao5

What system have you got, make and model of boiler? IMO Biomass is only really suitable when big to cover the cost and hassle of operation.

Jac1921

Biomass boiler since 2014, has been great. Yes expensive but we installed in outhouse for environmental reasons. Disaster struck almost a year ago when our 'payments' were suspended and a 'random' desk audit, which was tedious but no problems were found, then a site audit. We haven't been able to see the site audit report but an email 3 weeks ago informed us that we were 'non compliant' and we would have to repay most of the payments we had received and have a meter installed. Our MCS installer, a very experienced and excellent engineer is shocked and knows ono one on the Domestic RHI in a similar situation, or with a metered system. Nothing has changed since 2014, we have been happy with the boiler over this time. We are told that the action is being taken because our boiler isn't big enough to heat the whole house. It does and we haven other form of heating.  We treat our wit's end and don't have the resources to repay thousands. We have done everything asked of us. Surely we cannot be accused of noncompliance?  Anyone having similar problems.

Burnardo

Hi, a bit late on the thread, but here goes.
We've been on the RHI since 2014, first with a MCZ 22kW machine (I forget the name of it now), that broke a few years later, our installer replaced it with a Klover Diva Mid 20kW machine which has operated flawlessly ever since.
It's a joy each morning to come down for breakfast with a warm kitchen, a lovely big fire behind the glass, and the knowledge that the kitchen will be warm all day just from the embedded heat in the stove.
We're coming to the end of the RHI payments next year which is a shame, they've been great and have offset the purchase price correctly.
We pay about £750 a year for pellets, one ton from about April to November, two tons over the winter. It equates to a 15kg bag per week during the summer, a bag a day during the winter.
When the RHI ends, we'll be carrying on with our boiler, partly because 'it aint broke, so I'm not going to fix it', and partly on principle, it's about as carbon neutral as we can get (no roofs pointing south, not enough garden for GSHP).