biomass boiler
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Flugelhorn
Posts: 5,578 Forumite
planning to view a house that has come on the market - it has a biomass boiler installed, TBH I like the look of the house but not keen on the thought of the boiler.
Does the storage of the pellets take up a lot of space and how much attention does it take (we are getting a bit crumbly these days)?
Is it a big deal for a different sort of boiler eg oil to replace biomass boilers?
Does the storage of the pellets take up a lot of space and how much attention does it take (we are getting a bit crumbly these days)?
Is it a big deal for a different sort of boiler eg oil to replace biomass boilers?
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Comments
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Flugelhorn wrote: »planning to view a house that has come on the market - it has a biomass boiler installed, TBH I like the look of the house but not keen on the thought of the boiler.
Does the storage of the pellets take up a lot of space and how much attention does it take (we are getting a bit crumbly these days)?
Is it a big deal for a different sort of boiler eg oil to replace biomass boilers?
You'll see how much space the storage of the pellets takes up when you view the property. If you don't see them, don't worry about it.:)
No it's not usually a big deal to change the heating system. Get a heating engineer around to give you a full quotation (and details of anything required he maybe won't quote for such as the oil storage tank, etc).0 -
It's not a 'big deal' bu there's price tag. Oil boilers are more exensive than gas for example. £2K - 3K?
Would it need new pipework/rads? (I don't know if a biomass would have tese, and if it does, what condition),
Then an oil tank, depending on size (get the biggest you can eg 2000 ltres! between £800 and £1500 plus delivery/fitting, plus pipework to connect to the boiler.0 -
Does the current owner get RHI (payback from government) for the boiler?
If yes, it *may* not be transferable to a new owner.0 -
You have to top up the hopper i think every day, and you will possibly have to stack the bags in a shed, the driver dropping them of on the drive wont be doing it.0
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Pellets have to be stored somewhere dry as they will absorb water.
If you want to claim RHI then fuel has to be purchased from an authorised seller so you need to check out all this with the vendor. Check how the system is fueled, either by bags which have to be carried in and poured into the hopper or via a store with an automatic feed system. Check the cost and availability of them and how fast they get consumed.
According to the Pellet Fuels Institute, a 40-lb (20kg) bag of pellet fuel can provide up to 24 hours of solid heat. A winter’s supply of wood pellets is about 100-150 bags—depending on climatic and lifestyle variations
It's probably also worth checking on the servicing costs and when the system was serviced, the same with an oil system. They require an expertise that your average gas-safe plumber wont have so the costs might be higher.
The same with spares availaiblity - there aren't as many around so getting spares might be expensive or more difficult than a conventional boiler, especially if it's not UK made
As said above to swap out the boiler would cost you especially if mains gas isn't available. An oil boiler would require a tank and all the associated installation costs. The same with LPG.Never under estimate the power of stupid people in large numbers0 -
thanks for comments - looking for retirement property so shifting bags of pellets not appealing - will see if there is hopper etc. Liked oil when we had it so that wouldn't be a problem but would only be practical if not too much plumbing needs changing0
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