Regarding wood pellet boiler fired systems

iplogger1

Perhaps a naive question but typically for those who are installing such systems are they using conventional space heating rads or underfloor heating ?
Do you need a different boiler for underfloor heating supplied by wood pellet heating ?

In other words are pellet heating systems equally trialled on both underfloor and conventional rads ?

~ipl

rooferPete

Hi,

A good wood pellet system will work the same as any oil system, the rules are basically the same, the most important one being make sure your boiler has sufficient output for the area it has to heat.

We have a working Stove / Boiler in our showroom as well as a room heater, we also have a stand alone boiler (not operating) on view if you want to call in and see the differences.

.

Idleater

Hi,

Sorry to hijack, but I have 2 questions regarding Pellet Boilers.

1) What is the space requirements for a internal Stove with Boiler (ie, to be put in a room of the house rather than a garage). Is there a limit as to how close it can be to external walls and other inroom furniture (such as kitchen cabinets)? Basically, how well can these be "built in" to say a kitchen.

2) At the RDS last weekend, I was informed that to make it reliable pellets should be ordered in 3 ton (minimum) loads to make it (more) cost effective. What physical space (m^3) does this take up storage wise?

Cheers for any help.

L.

iplogger1

nereid wrote:

Hi,

Sorry to hijack, but I have 2 questions regarding Pellet Boilers.

1) What is the space requirements for a internal Stove with Boiler (ie, to be put in a room of the house rather than a garage). Is there a limit as to how close it can be to external walls and other inroom furniture (such as kitchen cabinets)? Basically, how well can these be "built in" to say a kitchen.

2) At the RDS last weekend, I was informed that to make it reliable pellets should be ordered in 3 ton (minimum) loads to make it (more) cost effective. What physical space (m^3) does this take up storage wise?

Cheers for any help.

L.

I'll chime/bump in with the same query. Good questions Nereid.
Can anyone answer either of these questions in relation to wood pellet systems ? RooferPete ? anyone?

~ipl

rooferPete

Hi,

I can only speak regarding the systems we sell so other products may have different rules / guidelines regarding installation.

The combination Pellet Stove / Boiler works using heat exchangers drawing the air needed from outside the building, this prevents them from burning up all the oxygen in the room causing drowsiness etc.

They are different to the cast iron stove that relies on air circulating around them to heat the room they are installed in, however I would recommend 150 mm each side and the back will need 150 mm from the wall to alow room for the on board thermostat.

I would not recommend building them in tight to kitchen appliances because the sides do get hot, also allowance should be made for servicing in the future.

I do recommend that anyone considering building in a Pellet Stove / Boiler combination should see one working to fully understand the heat levels I am trying to describe.

Regarding the purchase of pellet fuel, you were correctly informed about the most cost efficient way to buy your fuel, for example one tonne of fuel by bulk delivery costs €155.00 (min order three tonnes), one tonne of bagged fuel on a pallet costs between €260.00 and €280.00 per tonne.

The size of the storage tank should be 6 cubic metres, this allows for a delivery of approx 3.5 tonnes.

The extra one cubic metre comes in very handy because Balcas do request two weeks notice for an order to be delivered because that way they can include other customers in your area or they can send the truck out on a round trip therefore saving them high delivery costs.

Should you be unlucky and run out of fuel you do have the option of buying bagged fuel in small quantities to keep your heating working while waiting for a delivery.

I hope the above is of some help.

.

wexfordman

Roofer,

I have a solid fuel stove in my living room, which also heats the water/rads. How does a wood pellet system compare to these. I put it in last year, and was looking around for wood pellet systems at the time, but could not get one powerfull enough to do my rads. My oil burner is 120,000 btu, but that is overkill, 70000 woul dprobalby be suffeceint. I also have a zoned heating system, so was thinking that I could get aq pellet boiler that would heat half the house (we mainly only hav e one zone on at a time, but use the oil in the od event where we want rapid heat to the whole house).

Regard,
Wexfordman

rooferPete

Hi wexfordman,

The big difference between a pellet stove / boiler combination and say a Hunter multi fuel stove with a back boiler is both size and appearance, the pellet version is a lot bigger and after eight rads (rough guide) the bigger pellet stove would not be as pleasing on the eye in a sitting room.

We have one that would suit a kitchen / diningroom that would most likely meet your requirements, there are a lot of boilers on the market that would easily meet your requirements.

I always recommend that people look at the stoves, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and you would have to look at any stove / boiler combination you may buy for a long time to come.

The fact that you have your heating system zoned does leave you open to a lot of options.

.

iplogger1

Supposing I go and install a fairly standard (but decent) oil burner as the energy supply for a 2 floor underfloor heating system. How big of a job would it be to at a later stage switch out the oil fired heating and exchange with a wood pellet boiler as the heat supply mechanism ? Let's assume I've kept enough space out the back (in the garage or next to house) earmarked as a storage area for wood pellets should we go this way.

Or put another way.. what are the considerations I should make in installing oil fired boiler and immersion tank,etc such that I minimise any potential plumbing headaches should we switch to wood pellets at a later time.

I realise that ripping out a system only installed for a couple of years involves a degree of financial losses but I'm still not fully prepared to be an early adopter of wood pellets even though they do look like an interesting proposition for the near future in the not so unlikely event of a global energy crisis.

~ipl

Pete M.

Well iplogger1,

I'm currently building, and fully intend to install a wood pellet boiler. I'm not a plumber, but as I understand it, the work involved with retrofitting a WPB wouldn't be huge. It would just mean removing the old oil boiler, and sticking in the new one. They are of a comparable size, and can be hooked up to your heating system just the same way (hot water in, cold water out). You would just want to ensure that there is access for the feeding mechanism, so if you could put the boiler against an outer wall where you could mount the hopper for holding the pellet supply without it being in the way outside. The main thing with the WPB is that you need planty of space for storage of the pellets (see the other post on wood pellet boilers). But you should be aware of the grants that are to come available soon if the rumours are true. And considering this, the capital costs of purchasing a WPB are quite close to oil boilers, especially if you look around.
Regarding the heating of domestic hot water, I assume that you would have your heating system running through your hot tank anyway, so there would be no plumbing changes there. It would use the same system.
I reckon we could see a lot of retrofitting occurring in the near future with these grants, and the maturing of SSIAs. It certainly makes sense to start looking at this type of heating at the initial stage, and as far as I can see, it really doesn't make sense to put in an oil boiler right now if you are considering the wood pellet, but of course, thats up to you.
I'm putting in underfloor as well, and have been informed that the wood pellet option I'm going for is very compatible. Some would say that geothermal is the best for use in conjunction with UFH, but that is something I wouldn't be prepared to go with at this stage. Horses for courses I suppose.

plainsailing

Hi there. I am in the middle of building a house and I am considering putting in the Wood Pellet heating system - I've heard so much about it , that its cheap to run and also that you can now get a grant for this.
Can anyone explain the system to me? For me, i think it works along the sames lines as your oil burner, and radiators throughout the house. The burner and the wood pellets would be stored in a garage or silo (what size im not sure).
Would there be a stove like fire in your sitting room? would it look nice?
Does it mean no open fires?
Also how much does it cost to put in and to run it once its installed? If it breaks down will there be someone to come out right away?

rooferPete

Hi plainsailing,

The boiler in the garage / boiler house is much the same as an oil boiler, the big difference being some have a seperate hopper while others have a fuel tank attached to the side.

The fuel storage tank should not be confused with the hopper beside the boiler, the options for fuel storage range from very cheap by making it yourself to what I believe to be very expensive tanks made using galvanised sheet metal.

The reason I believe the galvanised tanks to be expensive is because galvanised sheet has a limited life expectancy, anyone who has seen galv sheet cut knows the cut ends are prone to rust that will push the galvanised finish off the metal.

There is no need for a stove when using a dedicated boiler in the garage / boiler house (the same as oil or gas).

There are stoves with integrated boilers that can be used as focal points in a room, they don't need to be your fireplace in fact some work better when fitted on an outside wall to allow for a dedicated air intake, please note that all stoves on the market don't need a dedicated air intake.

As to looking nice, there is a wide variety of products on the market and beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

There is no rule that prevents open fires or other multi fuel stoves being used just because you fit a pellet system.

The cost of installation can vary depending on the type of appliance and if it is a new installation or retro-fit.

For example installing most boilers in a new build garage / boiler house should not cost anymore than installing an oil boiler, replacing an existing oil boiler in a similar location should not be much more expensive (if at all) than fitting a replacement oil boiler.

When installed if the boiler is correctly sized (same as an oil boiler) the running cost can be as low as 50% if the fuel is purchased in bulk, if bagged fuel is purchased the saving is less because bagged fuel costs on average €250.00 per tonne (2 tonnes = 1,000 litres of oil).

The reason for the approved products and installers is to ensure there is back up when needed, I expect in the event of a breakdown the time it takes to receive service should not be different to an oil installation, a lot will depend on where you buy the system.

I hope the above is of some help.

.