Anyone else given up on Wood Pellet Boilers?

jpb1974 · 20-08-2010 11:12am #1

Had one installed about 3 years ago via the SEI Grant Scheme.

Total nightmare -

* Gerkros, the company that supplied it, went bust a few months later. No official support or service

* I now rely on an Estonian chap to service it. For all I know he could be gone back to Estonia now. Getting spare parts isn't easy.

* Totally temperamental system - spent hours trying to resolve problems with it

* The heating element on mine went last December. €150 to get a new one fitted... it went again at the start of April.

* Sourcing pellets can be a nightmare sometimes

* Cleaning it is painful

After 2 long, hard winters with this yoke I've decided to jack it in and have a condensing oil boiler fitted, I read that they operate quite efficiently with the lower temperatures used by underfloor heating.

duncans · 20-08-2010 1:11pm

Yep I've given up before I've even had one installed.
I was determined not to put oil in my newbuild - wanted something eco but several things have conspired against me
1) the new uk government (i'm up north) cancelled the grants so it went from a 3 or 4,000 grant to zero. Add on the cost of building storage etc and it would never pay for itself
2) started worrying about the longterm supply of pellets - with supply and demand it's bound to become a problem for companies growing trees quickly enough, plus long term there is bound to be competition between timber and food crop growing
3)you are at the mercy of pellet companies with regard to fuel prices just as much as you are with oil

So all in all the pellets aren't the cheap, eco-friendly solution i had hoped.

Decided to put in grant vortex oil condensing boiler, extra insulation, a solar panel for hot water, a stove with back boiler and a buffer tank.
Hoping i won't actually need to run the oil too much!

jpb1974 · 20-08-2010 1:32pm

Aye... the pellets don't really work out any cheaper than oil and can be very hard to source at times.

Then you can (unknowingly) buy really bad ones that clog up your boiler... I used them before and they clog up the chamber where the pellets are burned causing the heat to pass up the tube that transfers them from hopper whihc resulted in it melting... another €50 in repairs.

I never wanted to go down the oil route... but after trying to do my bit to be eco friendly I've more or less given up on the wood pellets. I'm going to revert to the tried and tested.

I'm feeling a bit more comfortable about it now that I know that the oil condensing boiler is supposed to be pretty efficient with underfloor heating.

duncans · 20-08-2010 1:40pm

yes i'm glad to hear that too - we were advised to put in a buffer tank with the oil system to avoid cycling. does that make sense? it's also good to hear someone with experience of the pellets - often you don't hear the downsides until it's too late. I think long term (and i mean 50 years!) the only solution is some kind of electric heating powered by wind or solar, or to go with the passivhaus idea. I just remain unconvinced that any house in ireland could do without any form of heating. Plus we need hot water in winter!
do you have solar panels? i've heard great things about them, our builder says he hasn't used his oil since the spring for heating his DHW (and he is not involved with our SP installation so he is not trying to sell them to us!)

jpb1974 · 20-08-2010 1:50pm

I don't think there's any optimal solution to heating your home.. and if there is then I'd imagine it'd probably take a long, long time to pay for itself.

I watched a Consumer Issues show on RTE television a number of months back and they done an article on the heartache people were getting with Wood Pellet boilers. I think the moral of that story was 'if you want to be eco friendly it's going to be costly and give you some heartache'.

We have solar panels, but for hot water only only. This year they have been especially good... there's been a lot of bright sunshine since the cold snap ended in January so we've been having pretty reasonable amounts of hot water since this time. On a good day you'd have a tank full of 50-55 degree water, enough for all 3 of us to shower, wash dishes etc. On a dull dreary day like today they'd do nothing.

duncans · 20-08-2010 1:54pm

Sorry if i'm bugging you with questions but i'm at the building stage and hoping i'm doing the right thing! - do you have evacuated tubes or flat plate? and if you don't mind me asking how is your system set up? i'm thinking HW from panels feeds the normal cylinder, the oil and wood stove go to the buffer tank.

jpb1974 · 20-08-2010 1:59pm

To be honest I'm not all that up-to-speed on the technicalities of these things... everything was entrusted with our plumber who is very good.

Our solar panels are flat plate but I've no idea what the differences are between these and evacuated tubes in terms of pros and cons.

The panels feed the hot water cylinder.

We don't have a buffer tank. Are you using underfloor heating or standard rads? I think buffer tanks are used with rads.. but I'm not a plumber so no great idea on this. Just make sure your buffer tank is uber insulated from top to bottom.

duncans · 20-08-2010 2:08pm

cheers
i'm same - not very technically minded and learning as i go. i think evac tubes are a bit more efficient but more expensive. we have rads upstairs and ufh downstairs. i think the buffer will be used so that the oil boiler doesn't continuously turn on and off - it will keep a supply at a certain temperature for a long time.
many thanks for your help, hope the oil boiler gives you a warm and stress free winter this year!!:)

jpb1974 · 20-08-2010 2:11pm

Might ask our plumber about the buffer... he's calling out next Wednesday to discuss the condensing boiler installation.

Gulliver · 20-08-2010 2:18pm

My parents have a pellet stove with back boiler in their house. It has been nothing but trouble since they got it installed. We had decided on wood pellets for our new build and had even put in slabs over the garage to store them above the boiler house, but after hearing all the problems that the parents and others in the area have had, it's a condensing oil burner for us.

Nice space above the garage now, though.

jpb1974 · 20-08-2010 2:29pm

Wood Pellet boilers, from my experience, are a total nightmare.

Anyone reading this and thinking about installing the latest, greatest and greenest technology think twice and consider everything upfront... which includes your own personal sanity over saving the planet.

I didn't take my own advice and am now scraping a system which basically means €€€€ down the drain.

Pete M. · 20-08-2010 2:42pm

I too had a gerkros fitted about 3 years ago and it has been going relatively well.
I replaced the ignition element (€50) myself a few months ago after getting the part from a crowd in Cahir who set up to meet the demand for parts servicing etc. as far as I know.
They certainly aren't for anyone who isn't hands on. Plenty of TLC and maintainance required but if they get that, then they work quite well and economically.
Though I have had to pursuade the OH to not attack it with an axe a couple of times, she hates it!!
As for pellets, have gotten them off that big company in Enniskillen (you know who they are) and the quality and delivery has always been good.
Though there has been a significant cost increase lately, it is still a little cheaper than oil I reckon. And of course my conscience is all the better for having a rather dainty carbon footprint don't you know

I have no connection with this company other than getting a part from them and here is the link for those of you who may require parts. If it's inappropriate to put it here, sorry

http://www.woodpeckerenergy.com/contact-us.php

jpb1974 · 20-08-2010 2:49pm

After lots of farting around with ours I did manage to figure it out a bit more and got to the point where it was running without too many hiccups... but the brand new element packing in after little over 3 months was just ridiculous.

With all things added up it's just too much. It has let us down a few times and if we have another January like we did this year then we need something we can rely on.

kay 9 · 20-08-2010 4:31pm

jpb1974 wrote: »

To be honest I'm not all that up-to-speed on the technicalities of these things... everything was entrusted with our plumber who is very good.

Our solar panels are flat plate but I've no idea what the differences are between these and evacuated tubes in terms of pros and cons.

The panels feed the hot water cylinder.

We don't have a buffer tank. Are you using underfloor heating or standard rads? I think buffer tanks are used with rads.. but I'm not a plumber so no great idea on this. Just make sure your buffer tank is uber insulated from top to bottom.

The advantages of tubes over panels is that they are 1, easier install 2, more surface area 3, easier replace dulled or damaged tubes than a panel;)

Iderown · 20-08-2010 6:20pm

JPB1974,

Also had (HAD) a Gerkros pellet burner here. We went through maybe 7 ignition elements in the three years before replacing the burner with an oil burner.

We had the advice of a splendid heating engineer who had an adapter plate made so that the oil burner could fit into the boiler case. Next to zero plumbing of the water circuit was involved. I re-organised the electrics - very simple. Works great, real test will come in a couple of months time. But it is heating the hot water cylinder very well. There is no auxiliary hot water storage buffer for the system.

Anyone want to buy a 3.5 tonne green plastic pellet storage tank?

Joey the lips · 20-08-2010 11:39pm

Once i heard wet pellets/ Rats getting cot in the screw/ and lots of ash....

Mehh I gave up

yoshytoshy · 21-08-2010 8:09am

It's crazy to think wood pellet boilers are around for such a long time and we just can't get it right here.
Over 65% of boilers in sweden are wood pellet.

Pete M. · 21-08-2010 10:37am

Joey the lips wrote: »

Once i heard wet pellets/ Rats getting cot in the screw/ and lots of ash....

Mehh I gave up

Wet pellets just turn to mush and couldn't be used, rats getting caught in the screw :eek: would like to see that :rolleyes:

And lots of ash? I empty mine about once a month and there's still bugger all.

I understand that these units get some bad press and certainly some folks have had bad experiences, but unless you know what you're getting yourself into and can handle it, you'll have those problems.
Think I'll clean mine out tomorrow, just to show it that little bit of TLC what is required.

tinofapples · 21-08-2010 6:39pm

Out of curiosity ....... what would it cost to replace the wood pellet boiler with the more traditional oil boiler ? If we get anymore small trouble we could be convinced to ditch it as well.

It's certainly not what our great government were promoting and encouraging 4 years ago.

Pete M. · 22-08-2010 12:55am

You should get a decent oil boiler installed for about 2K,all in, I reckon.

But you can't blame the government for wood pellet boilers not being all they may have been cracked up to be.

That may be the only thing, but....

Iderown · 22-08-2010 7:09pm

tinofapples - remember to get a few quotes for any replacement arrangement. See if a full replacement boiler would be needed, as opposed to oil burner unit only.

Others who have Gerkros Woodpecker type boiler: Please regularly check the thermostat port on the top right front of the boiler. You can see it when the top cover is levered off. It can leak and it is right beside the electronic control box. If no sign of leak - leave it alone.

jpb1974 · 23-08-2010 12:34pm

Thanks for the feedback folks.

but unless you know what you're getting yourself into and can handle it, you'll have those problems.

My first winter with the boiler was a disaster... it took my hours upon hours to figure the thing out... realistically you'd almost need to do a course in how to keep a wood pellet boiler.

The 2nd year it was running OK... but this carry on with a €150 element replacement in December and then another required at the end of March just made me realize that this thing wasn't going to pay for itself over oil any time soon.

kscobie · 24-08-2010 11:11pm

kay 9 wrote: »

The advantages of tubes over panels is that they are 1, easier install 2, more surface area 3, easier replace dulled or damaged tubes than a panel;)

Good panels dont need replacing, and with everything in life, you get what you pay for

kscobie · 24-08-2010 11:21pm

yoshytoshy wrote: »

It's crazy to think wood pellet boilers are around for such a long time and we just can't get it right here.
Over 65% of boilers in sweden are wood pellet.

I heard of a irish woodpellet boiler being launched next year, wont mention names, but met a guy who has one on test in his own house, if it does what he says, but i am still on the fence, beside my oil tank!!!!

MidlandsM · 24-08-2010 11:31pm

I know a bloke at work who had one of those fangled pellet boiler with an outside hopper. He paid 20k for it or so he claimed. He was all talk about it when he got it, it was like he aquired a nasa space rocket.
but in the depths of winter,it broke his heart.
He's since ripped it out and has an oil burner now and lots of egg on his face.

I've an oil burner, have had for the last 5 years since I built my house. I considered a pellet boiler, looked at them, costed them up but went for a mix of oil, and solid fuel stove (burning turf/coal)
I spend about 3 or €400 per annum on oil and then maybe €300 on solid fuel.
Works for me ......my pocket .....and the financial enviroment we live in!

TopMan · 26-08-2010 10:41pm

Have a Gerkros pellet boiler in for over 4 years. Going great after a few hiccups at the beginning when my plumber, "the local ****ing hero", came back back to sort out his mess.

I knew when i got mine what was involved after reveiwing research in sweden, etc. regarding the maintainance and upkeep. The cowboy plumbers who made cockup of most installations brought the industry to it's knee's. This country just wasn't ready and SEI and the grants were a lot to blame. 9 out of 10 people with pellet boilers that I spoke to said the main driver behind their decision to go pellet was a €4,200 grant. Does this sound familiar, greed !!!!!!!

tinofapples · 27-08-2010 5:24am

TopMan wrote: »

Have a Gerkros pellet boiler in for over 4 years. Going great after a few hiccups at the beginning when my plumber, "the local ****ing hero", came back back to sort out his mess.

I knew when i got mine what was involved after reveiwing research in sweden, etc. regarding the maintainance and upkeep. The cowboy plumbers who made cockup of most installations brought the industry to it's knee's. This country just wasn't ready and SEI and the grants were a lot to blame. 9 out of 10 people with pellet boilers that I spoke to said the main driver behind their decision to go pellet was a €4,200 grant. Does this sound familiar, greed !!!!!!!

How about doing something for the environment and at the same time saving money over oil costs (Apparently !!)

yoshytoshy · 27-08-2010 7:01am

kscobie wrote: »

I heard of a irish woodpellet boiler being launched next year, wont mention names, but met a guy who has one on test in his own house, if it does what he says, but i am still on the fence, beside my oil tank!!!!

I thought the problem here was the supply/distribution of pellets ,maybe someone has made a wet pellet boiler:D

Is there any regulation with regard to the supply of wood pellets ? ,or can people sell any old muck ?

Iderown · 27-08-2010 7:47am

To be honest, we never had any problem with the ordering or delivery of pellets from the well-known Fermanagh supplier. I must admit to not really liking having just one possible supplier.
One early delivery had a rather high proportion of dust. It blocked the feed screw. Thereafter I sieved each bin-full before putting into the screw-feed bin beside the boiler. Another task in my already busy schedule.

Plumbing. The system here was plumbed in without allowing for a water circuit for the pump over-run period. The circulation pump operated all night, was pumping against closed valves and the water in the boiler was not cooling. This would have caused the pump to have a very short life.
The "cheap and cheerful" cure was for the plumber to install a radiator close by the boiler in the garage. This was "on" all the time. The garage was lovely and warm - much appreciated by the cat. The house could have benefitted from that heat.

All re-organised now that the pellet burner has been replaced with an oil burner.

jpb1974 · 27-08-2010 9:29am

9 out of 10 people with pellet boilers that I spoke to said the main driver behind their decision to go pellet was a €4,200 grant. Does this sound familiar, greed !!!!!!!

Greed... sorry pal, but I doubt it.

If my memory serves me correctly even with the grant the Wood Pellet installation costs about the same if not more than an oil burner installation.

So greed... no... an alternative to oil... yes.

jpb1974 · 27-08-2010 9:34am

The cowboy plumbers who made cockup of most installations brought the industry to it's knee's.

None of my issues were plumber related...

Kashkai · 27-08-2010 10:24pm

We bought two pellet burners, one for the central heating and one as a room heater. The room heater blasts out the heat but its a temperamental little fecker. It can shut itself down for no reason. The cowboy we bought it off was the subject of the consumer affairs programme a few months back as once he has your dosh, he doesn't want to know when, not if, you have problems.

The central heating burner just can't heat the house. Its not powerful enough even though we were shown all the calculations by the supplier to "prove" it was more than capable of doing the job. I had an oil boiler installed since as we need something that can heat the house to the point where you don't need to wear a jumper or coat in winter when you're inside!

I'd hand back the grant money if I could get back the money I wasted on these "green wonders" aka pellet burners.

kscobie · 29-08-2010 4:18pm

yoshytoshy wrote: »

I thought the problem here was the supply/distribution of pellets ,maybe someone has made a wet pellet boiler:D

Is there any regulation with regard to the supply of wood pellets ? ,or can people sell any old muck ?

The pellet supply is not a problem now i think, probally less demand! The big pellet guys up north were at the sei show earlier this year, and i had a great chat with a rep, he said there was a european standard, but very few knew of it, never mind stuck to it.

the roadwarrior · 15-09-2010 11:06pm

ive just seen this thread and im tempted to gather a group of people to go to the next sustainable building show at the rds 7th to 9th of october bring along their pellet boilers and make those SEI idiots eat them . what a waste of mone y and time , the really good thing is the relief now ive decided to take the gerkros boiler out and get an ( oil ) boiler in that will actually work ! we had our new bulid 3 years ago and the boiler was the only bad mistake we made , it broke down 15 to 20 times , went on fire twice , wore out ignition elements regularly .the worst bit was the unreliability of it and the constant high maintenance . unless u cleaned it out every 2 to 3 days it would start faulting , when you take into account the installation costs , the cost of a boiler shed , a special 6 cubic metre hopper slow temperature build up , etc it doesnt make any economic sense so am putting in a high efficiency condenser oil boiler , itll work and turn on straight away , anyone want a 30 kw pellet boiler auger and hopper ,i can recommend a good psychiatrist

jpb1974 · 17-09-2010 10:57am

the really good thing is the relief now ive decided to take the gerkros boiler out and get an ( oil ) boiler in that will actually work !

I feel the same way.. I had my condenser oil boiler installed last Friday.. it's like a weight off my shoulders.

In the past I dreaded the prospect of using oil... I wanted to save the planet and be free of inflated oil prices... but after doing my bit with that dreaded wood pellet boiler I know the the administrators at the gates of heaven will know that I tried.

jpb1974 · 29-09-2010 9:46am

Start using the new oil burner earlier this week... oh the joy:

* Oil ordered last Friday afternoon via the internet - delivered Monday afternoon. All the hassle of pellet availability gone

* Hot water almost instantaneously unlike the wood pellet boiler that spent 10 minutes running through checks and start up protocols and then another 20 minutes to get the water up to heat

* No more worries about the number of ignitions wearing out parts

* No more weekly cleaning

* No more issues in relation to service and parts

* One service a year for circa €70

I never thought I'd be rejoicing oil so much but so far so good.

mcauleyj · 29-09-2010 2:58pm

Hi jpb1974,

If you dont mind me asking, what oil boiler did you opt for?

I'm about to replace my pellet boiler with oil as well. Might keep the pellet boiler & plumb it in parallel so can have the choice tho!

John

jpb1974 · 29-09-2010 3:21pm

what oil boiler did you opt for?

Hi John,

That would be a Firebird.

The wood pellet boiler is still plumbed in, just a matter of opening and closing a few valves... but to be honest I've really no appetite to ever switch back to it.

Iderown · 30-09-2010 7:02am

jpb1974 and mcauleyj

A competent oil installer replaced the pellet burner here with an oil burner. The Gerkros boiler case is still used, so no additional bulk or plumbing needed in the garage. An adapter plate was needed so that the oil burner (Riello RDB1) could fit in to the hole.
The only plumbing that was needed was to replace the thermostat port with a slightly larger one (same thread) so that a standard thermostat could be wired in.
An additional thermostat was needed at the top of the boiler to switch the circulating pump.
That was it! After the kit had been got it took about 6 hours to connect all together.
We have needed only domestic hot water until last week when the full central heating has been used. It is working really well.
Anyone got suggestions (sensible suggestions!) about what to do with a 3.5 tonne plastic pellet tank?

mcauleyj · 03-10-2010 10:04pm

jpb1974 wrote: »

Hi John,

That would be a Firebird.

The wood pellet boiler is still plumbed in, just a matter of opening and closing a few valves... but to be honest I've really no appetite to ever switch back to it.

Thanks, thats the idea I have as well allowing either oil or pellet to be used - initially though I am going to run with the oil over the winter & see how it goes in comparison with the pellet & then decide whether to keep the pellet boiler & buffer tank or sell it on.

I was looking at the Firebird enviromax myself after my father put a non-condensing Firebird in. I like the idea of the burner at the top and secondary heat exchanger at the bottom, tho I have changed my choice to the Grant vortex I think now, theres not much between them but I can get the Grant at a better price up north than the Firebird.

John

mcauleyj · 03-10-2010 10:25pm

Iderown wrote: »

jpb1974 and mcauleyj

A competent oil installer replaced the pellet burner here with an oil burner. The Gerkros boiler case is still used, so no additional bulk or plumbing needed in the garage. An adapter plate was needed so that the oil burner (Riello RDB1) could fit in to the hole.
The only plumbing that was needed was to replace the thermostat port with a slightly larger one (same thread) so that a standard thermostat could be wired in.
An additional thermostat was needed at the top of the boiler to switch the circulating pump.
That was it! After the kit had been got it took about 6 hours to connect all together.
We have needed only domestic hot water until last week when the full central heating has been used. It is working really well.
Anyone got suggestions (sensible suggestions!) about what to do with a 3.5 tonne plastic pellet tank?

Hi Iderown,

Thanks a good idea - I had considered doing that as well, as my pellet boiler (Scotte/ Dor) is basically a solid fuel boiler adapted to take a burner in the side (in this case a pellet burner) - so I could just fit an oil one in its place like you have done.

Good in terms of reuse and minimal cost to change over. Only downside is that it wouldnt be as efficient as the condensing oil boilers available at the moment.

Did your oil bloke tweak the burner settings & use a flue gas analyser etc to optimise the oil burner to your boiler?

I'm wondering what to do with my pellet boiler;
1. Keep it and put it in parallel with the oil,
2. Try alternative fuel - maybe waste oil burner (but these are costly & might be license/ legal issues). Only good if you can get a supply of waste veg or other oil.
3. Sell it on as it works grand, but is just a bit underpowered for my house.

John

Iderown · 04-10-2010 7:37am

John,

Did your oil bloke tweak the burner settings & use a flue gas analyser etc to optimise the oil burner to your boiler?

Yes, he did. It needs to be reset again. I have installed an additional set of baffles in channels in the boiler. These are used in the 30kW Gerkros boiler but not in the 20kW one which we have. I suspect, but I have no data to back it up, that the efficiency is now higher.

We have kept the pellet burner, the control box, the feed screw, the small and large pellet tanks, but, I don't really see us going back to pellet use in the near future.

coastcooler · 09-04-2013 12:16pm

after reading so much threads and the negativity regarding wood pellet heating systems, wanted to go with that for eco reasons, affordabilty and more cleaness wise im at an all time low like the song, ive plans drawn up wait 2 submit to council only to know whether i need a bigger garage for storage of pellets, hopper and burner etc.
no one has a good word to say..
8-(

Kashkai · 09-04-2013 12:26pm

Don't do it mate. I know they are in widespread use on the continent but for whatever reason, they just don't work in this country. I haven't used mine in over two years as it ate pellets and only heated the rads to a lukewarm temperature at best. Go with a solid fuel stove as my brother has one and it heats his 3,000 sq ft house and supplies all the hot water his family of 8 needs. If you really really want a wood pellet boiler, you could buy mine!

coastcooler · 09-04-2013 1:27pm

Dont do it mate, i love it!! great advice im a girl and great advice goes along way, LOL. ye they seem to be more hassle than anything else. thats not what i need with constant updating, servicing, replacing parts etc, call out fees is last thing I need, iv no trades and am useless when it comes to things like this, so I need to buy something that works 100% doesn't cost earth and is reliable.
i know people are saying what about geothermal / air to water heard bad stories about them too. agh NIGHTMARE...

Kashkai · 09-04-2013 1:52pm

coastcooler wrote: »

Dont do it mate, i love it!! great advice im a girl and great advice goes along way, LOL. ye they seem to be more hassle than anything else. thats not what i need with constant updating, servicing, replacing parts etc, call out fees is last thing I need, iv no trades and am useless when it comes to things like this, so I need to buy something that works 100% doesn't cost earth and is reliable.
i know people are saying what about geothermal / air to water heard bad stories about them too. agh NIGHTMARE...

I call everyone "mate", whether they're male or female so no offence intended;)

Seriously, wood pellet stoves and boilers were thrown onto the Irish market with no back up support from the suppliers or manufacturers and when they broke down through poor installation, poor servicing etc, we all got fed up with them. Geo thermal sounds great but there are substantial electricity costs associated with running the pump so not as cheap as it sounds. Solid fuel stove is the way to go as they can burn wood, coal etc and can be kept lighting indefinitely once you regulate the airflow,fuel it, clean it etc. Obviously a condensing oil burner is the almost hassle free way of heating your home but five years ago, 1,000 litres cost €450, now it costs circa €1,000. I can't see the price of oil decreasing any time soon.

coastcooler · 09-04-2013 1:59pm

oh god no i dont mind been called mate ;-) god what 2 go with... agh, oil sounds good - condensing boiler but cost is extortionate and then supply and demand law of economics regarding oil into future.

demanufactured · 09-04-2013 4:03pm

Wood pellet boilers - A product of the boom times....
Useless in Ireland.

Dtp79 · 09-04-2013 6:34pm

Ye can't really base an opinion just because people don't like the gerkros or Scotte pellet boilers. If fairness they were always on the lower end of quality. Pure sh1te. Look up verner or ponast boilers. Much better quality

shane0007 · 09-04-2013 8:40pm

Supply & storage of pellets is probably the biggest factor for failure in Ireland. Moisture content & lack of bark mulch being key.
I've taken out plenty of them at this stage. Good for scrap as nice heavy beasts!

Jesus Christ · 09-04-2013 8:54pm

My house came with a Wodke that had sat idle for a couple of years in houses that wouldn't sell because the developer was looking for silly money. It was recommissioned in June of 2010 when we bought from a liquidator and I haven't had any major issues so far. I have looked into replacing the side panels on them for aesthetic reasons and they were loony toons money, so parts will probably be expensive if something does crop up, but thus far nothing.

My only complaints would be a lack of servicing choice - we're pretty much locked into the guy that helped set them up day one - and that it needs cleaning more often than the programmed standard (1.5t). However that's probably down to the way we run it - most of the time, very low - and I'm going to start doing that myself shortly.

We use bagged pellets, if that's relevant. It's somewhat inconvenient, but I've seen plenty of people complaining about stuck feeds so perhaps it's the safer option. Up to now the bags have been stored in the house, including a full pallet at one stage when we had a spare room, however we'll be putting in a proper timber shed shortly so we'll see how that impacts on cleanliness WRT damp. I'm hoping it won't be a problem.

Anyone else given up on Wood Pellet Boilers?

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