wood pellet central heating

T

thespecialon

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Hi all,
after reading through some of the previous posts i am still undecided on the above.building a 2500sq foot house and installing central heating - radiators in every room.


my options as far as i know are between wood bellet boiler + oil boiler?

anyone got any feedback on the wood bellet boiler - like ease of getting pellets now?also utility room is fairly small so anyone know what size wood pellet boilder would need to be for 2500 sq feet?

also any feedback on running costs versus oil welcome?
Thanks T
 
Looked into the same option myself but didn't run with it as need a fair amount of pellet storage space (min delivery 1 tonne) to make it worthwhile, which I didn't have. Would have went with it if had room for bulk storage as think running costs work out around half that of oil. Installation costs come to around 10k. The SEI Greener Homes grant covers €4,200 of this. Typical footprint required is 2m X 1.5m. They radiate some heat into the rooms they're located in so would probably need another sytem in the warmer months for heating water only, perhaps solar.
 
Seeing as you are building a house could you allow for the extra space needed? The previous poster is spot on in terms of space needed & grant etc. I built this year and installed a wood pellet boiler but built an separate extra large garage to take the boiler & 3.5 tonne storage unit. Only moved in in March so can't confirm how much cheaper than oil it is yet - I'll have a better idea after a full winter. The official line is that its about 60% of the cost of oil & so far that looks about right. I can say though that when it has been running it has been very efficient.

Regarding availability - I've only ordered once so far from Balcas. They gave me a lead time of three weeks but delivered in less than 2 weeks. As long as you time it right it shouldn't be a problem. I believe there will be more suppliers soon in any case.
 
I hear it can be noisy - the pellets into the boiler and presumably you have to feed them in regularly?
 
Cyberbams said:
I hear it can be noisy - the pellets into the boiler and presumably you have to feed them in regularly?
Click to expand...

no, they have a self feeding mechanism called a hopper for the bulk storage version, otherwise, if you get bags delevered you have to feed yoursel, but probably no mor ethan once a day.... AFAIK
 
Where did you purchase the storage unit for wood pellets. I am waiting on Balcas to supply their storage unit which seems to be coming out every month but haven't received it yet.

For any-one buying a wood pellet boiler be sure to have the correct heat measurement for wood pellet boiler and not an oil boiler. I found out too late that there is a difference and the my boiler is too big for my requirements. In order to cut down the boiler I would get a digital display on the boiler and get it adjusted. This would cost at least 500euro. Also when running UFH they are now suggesting that a buffer tank is also used. Again I did not know this, more money needed again.

Has anyone else come across these problems.
 
I have researched the whole wood pellet heating option and I still believe that its not a viable option at the moment. The quality of the pellets is crucial to the efficiency of the burner and from what I hear the pellet quality here in Ireland is not up to the same standards as the rest of europe. You also have to factor in the initial capital cost of the boiler which is alot more than a traditional oil boiler. There is also the issue of ongoing maintanance of these boilers as there are a lot more things to go wrong compared to an oil boiler. there are a lot of cowboys out there installing these boilers without proper training.
I have decided to install a Grant condensing oil boiler and a large solar panel to assist the boiler in space heating and water heating. I plan to have the option down the road of installing a geothermal system to replace the oil boiler. As old saying there is always an irish solution to an irish problem and I am still of the opinion that in time a sustainable wood pellet industry will emerge here in Ireland but at the moment that industry is only in its infancy. My advice to you would be to install an oil boiler for the moment and spend your money on good insulation for the house
 
Rahman
I think caution is wise, however a good pellet boiler installed by people with the right experience and track record including a large pellet storage tank (I would double SEI's min requirements) is not much more expensive that the oil / solar option and cheaper over a period of 8-10 years.

If going for a pellet boiler, don't compromise on price, if you can't afford a good one, try Rahman's solution. Also ask yourself - are you willing to clean it as required? if not stay away (PS some models require cleaning only twice per year).
 
I was at a home improvement show recently and the Sales Rep advised me not to go with Woodpellets if I was going with UFH as Woodpellet boiler would heat the water too hot for UFH. He indicated the Woodpellet boilers more suited for radiators.
Any opinions ?
 
I recently moved into my newly built gaff, where I have a wood pellet boiler and UFH (Roth piping etc.). Researched the options quite extensively, and find that this set up is working just fine. Also installed a dual coil hot tank, as I was considering solar panels for DHW, but am thinking again about this, as the WPB is supplying plenty of hot water, and is quite efficient in that respect.
Also considered having a buffer tank, but didn't go with it in the end, but the UFH seems to be working out just fine without it.
Can't remember off the top of my head what the boilers output was, but it was too high for my requirements, and so had it turned down by the installer after a couple of weeks, pretty easy as it is just a function of how quickly the delivery system sends pellets to the boiler.
One thing about the WPB is that it does require a bit of maintenance, which I am more than happy to do, though those who are less hands on may not appreciate this aspect of the system. I need to fill the hopper about once a week, as I didn't go for the direct feed from my storage silo, and the combustion chamber needs to be cleaned and ash removed every so often, about every couple of weeks (could probably do it a lot less), takes ten minutes, tops, and is really simple.
The pellets for the system are stored in a self built silo in my garage, beside the boiler, fireproofed on the side facing the boiler (tis built from ply), and the pellets seem to be burning just fine, no problems with quality whatsoever. Very little ash, remove dust from pellets while filling by using a wire guaze bucket, couldn't be happier really.
Got the pellets within two weeks from Balcas, and I know there are others suppliers of pellets now available, though I'll probably stick with them as they're quite close to me (am in north west).
Net cost of installation was around 2K, got the grant of €4200 after installation, thoughy I know theres a second phase of grants which may be a little lower, though not as reduced as the grant for the heat pump systems.
All in all, I am happy with the choice of system, its working just fine, and I would recommend it to those who like to be hands on.
 
we are storing our wood pellets in a purpose built silo, got a delivery of pellets (4 tonne) last nite and the guy reckons with the level of insulation we have and type of wpb we wont see him again for another year and a half!! - wont be moving in till jan but the heating has been on for 2 wks now drying out the house and its nice and toasty there in the evenings at 19/20 degrees.
 
Just on the subject of pellet quality - I got my one & only delivery so far from Balcas. I have noticed that there is a lot of dust in the small hopper which was commented on by the Gerkros engineer recently. Gerkros themselves recommend an Irish company called (I think) Firestixx - who apparently have higher quality pellets based on the fact that they have had no complaints from them as yet. Has anyone used them yet?
 
Hi poppy1,
Good luck with your imminent move-in. Any chance you could post details of your wpb here, i.e. make, model, capacity, price? Also, I'd be interested to hear what type of build you have (block or TF), what type of heating (rads or UFH) and house size. Thanks, apple1
 
yep - we got firestixx, but as the only arrived yesterday i cant comment on what they are like yet.!! but the guy that owns them says they are the best on the market??
our house is 2200 sq ft, we drylined all the outside walls, and got regular rads except for 5 solo rads in the large areas like the halls etc
 
our pellet stove was supplied and installed by our German builders and the only 'Irish' pellets they advise us to use are firestix (which we do). Apparently some other pellets can have higher moisture contents and would void out stove warranty.
 
got my boiler and pellets from Kedco . gave me guarantee for future requirements of pellets. got 24k boiler for 2800 foot house . more than meeting my heating needs. rep called to house to make sure got right size boiler . now getting solar from them. wpb definitely working out cheaper than oil especially now
 
I see wood pellet (bulk) prices are up...
- Balcas - €220/ton incl VAT
- Leinster pellets €235/ton incl VAT

how much are Firestix? - are they on the web (can't find them anywhere)
 
Hi. We have a WPB installed. We don't have exact figures but I agree that it is about 60% the cost of oil.

We are running UFH directly from the boiler without any problems. What I suggest is as one poster said, is not to compromise on boiler quality. Our one modulates to the heat demand that is required at a given time. Also the better models (usually more expensive) have self cleaning that requires emptying the ash once or twice a year. They are not noisy in my opinion.

We got a fill of pellets (brother's house and our house) last winter and found them ok. Got pellets from Firestix also, but before he had the lorry. They are more expensive than Balcas at 235 euro per ton. Kedco sell for 185 euro per ton and our boiler supplier said that they do seem a good pellet. We didn't have any issue with dust in our load from Balcas, but I guess loads differ.

I also agree re solar in conjunction with wood pellets. We installed a solar system and can never see it paying for itself.

Would we install a WPB again. YES as we are happy with the system we have, efficent and same as having an oil boiler, just cheaper. I think especially in a new build it should be considered. One has to install a heating system anyway. Add the grant to what this will cost and the difference is not that much.

I do not supply WPB.
 
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