cost per hour solid fuel vs. oil??

PWR

Saw on another thread (info. from plombier I think) here that a specified OFCH boiler should consume 3-4 litres an hour. Does anyone have any idea how burning solid fuel roughly compares?

I know there's a lot of variables, so lets say if you had a standard output boiler using oil we can estimate the cost per hour per KwH, could we compare with firewood (say pallets or softwood). Reason for asking is looking at putting in a solid fuel (mixed) back boiler stove. I want to see if it makes sense as a long term main system with OFCH as the back-up.

Ta!

PWR

anyone??

heinbloed

The SEI has a "fuel cost comparison " sheet published at their home page.

reilig

4 litres of oil per hour is 4 x €0.65 = €2.60 p/h

I have a 2000 sqft house heated with solid fuel (Turf).

In the frosty/snowy weather I have the fires running 24/7 and would use a max of 3 bags per day. There's no exact way to match it with an oil boiler so could we estimate that this would be the equivalent of having an oil boiler running for 12 hours??

here's the maths then:

Oil = 12 x €2.60 = €31.20 per day in the really cold weather (Below 2 degrees)

Turf - well I buy my turf on the bog and save them myself. Approximately 50 bags worth costs €100. So its €2 per bag that it costs me.

Turf = 3 x €2 = €6 per day in cold weather

Lets say you buy your turf in bags at €4 per bag

3 x €4 = €12.

To be honest, I don't have a scientific way of working it out and it really depends on the efficiency of the solid fuel burner or stove you are using and also it will depend on how insulated your house is and how much you can buy your turf at. So before anyone slates me saying that my figures are wrong, I know that they are, so the above is only an example of costs for you.

In my experience, solid fuel (wood or turf) is always much cheaper than oil but you have to factor in the inconvenience of having to manually fill the boiler.

lfp

I've wondered about this also. Another factor would be taking account of the cost of an open fire/non back boiler stove consumption of solid fuel if your central heating was 100% oil. Most people light a fire in the living room etc. even when the oil does the rads.

PWR

I'll post this thread on the to the SEI and see if they have a simple calculator, the ones on their website are too cumbersome, for me anyway!

neeb

http://www.sei.ie/Publications/Statistics_Publications/Fuel_Cost_Comparison/Domestic_Fuel_Cost_Comparison_January_2009.pdf


Efficiency of the appliance is a major factor too.

pegasus1

we haven't used the central heating at all this year....:eek:

to run the stove in the living room for the 24hrs we use 2 thirds of a regular coal bucket filled with coal plus 4 briquettes plus up to the handle with seasoned wood...the whole 3 bedroom house with internal doors open - regular timberframe construction - is nice and warm:)

reckon the cost is a fiver!!!:D

in this cold weather too!!

galah

we're the same - 3 bed house, solid fuel stove run on coal, wood, and a bit of turf. It would be really interesting to find out how much it actually costs per day (we don't have oil-fired heating, so can't run a comparison as such) - I reckon between 5 and 8 euros/day would be about right.

Plus electricity to heat your water...

But the house is warm, and I mean 'run around in a t-shirt' warm...;-)

Stove Fan

We have a medium sized multifuel stove 8kw output heating a 2 bed detatched bungalow. It was built in the 1950's and we have built a large extension on the rear and insulated all of the walls of the bungalow with kingspan slabs.

The stove has a factory fitted wraparound back boiler and heats 6 radiators and a towel rail. 5 of the rads are doubles. We burn wood and coal and worked out the cost at around 25-30 euros a week in this weather. It's lovely and warm!! We have had oil systems in the past and have ripped the oil boiler out and replaced with a solid fuel boiler stove. It is definately cheaper to run if you can tend to it's needs.
The UK stove manufacturer claims our stove is 75 percent efficient.

Stove Fan:)

pegasus1

Stove Fan wrote: »

We have a medium sized multifuel stove 8kw output heating a 2 bed detatched bungalow. It was built in the 1950's and we have built a large extension on the rear and insulated all of the walls of the bungalow with kingspan slabs.

The stove has a factory fitted wraparound back boiler and heats 6 radiators and a towel rail. 5 of the rads are doubles. We burn wood and coal and worked out the cost at around 25-30 euros a week in this weather. It's lovely and warm!! We have had oil systems in the past and have ripped the oil boiler out and replaced with a solid fuel boiler stove. It is definately cheaper to run if you can tend to it's needs.
The UK stove manufacturer claims our stove is 75 percent efficient.

Stove Fan:)

welcome to boards stove fan
stoves rock!!

Stove Fan

pegasus1 wrote: »

welcome to boards stove fan
stoves rock!!

Thanks for the welcome:) Stoves certainly rock! Nothing beats them for a focal point and warmth.:D Stove Fan:)

jackrussell007

pegasus1 wrote: »

we haven't used the central heating at all this year....:eek:

to run the stove in the living room for the 24hrs we use 2 thirds of a regular coal bucket filled with coal plus 4 briquettes plus up to the handle with seasoned wood...the whole 3 bedroom house with internal doors open - regular timberframe construction - is nice and warm:)

reckon the cost is a fiver!!!:D

in this cold weather too!!

hi folks /pegasus

the maths look attractive..I'm pouring coal into my fire every night, probably a full bucket + a block or two. and we got through a savage abmount of oil when it was cold last month.

what size of stove have you got ? I roughly calculated the amount of BTUs I needed the other night and it came out at around 60,000. I have a three bed semi-d built in the 70s. insulation not great. 6 x 6foot double rads downstairs 4 x 6 foot single rads upstairs.

at the moment we have a open fire with back boiler but you;d want a hefty fire roaring for an hour or two before turning on the pump and even then the rads and nicely warm. nothin special.

I'm looking at getting a back boiler stove but am scared off by the price and the size of them. i seem to need a fairly big one to heat the above? still I'd rather have the boiler if possible. it seems a waste otherwise.

I'm a little confused over some of the advice I've gotten with regard to what size i need. any suggestions?

(apologies if I'm totally hijacking this thread)

pegasus1

jackrussell007 wrote: »

hi folks /pegasus

the maths look attractive..I'm pouring coal into my fire every night, probably a full bucket + a block or two. and we got through a savage abmount of oil when it was cold last month.

what size of stove have you got ? I roughly calculated the amount of BTUs I needed the other night and it came out at around 60,000. I have a three bed semi-d built in the 70s. insulation not great. 6 x 6foot double rads downstairs 4 x 6 foot single rads upstairs.

at the moment we have a open fire with back boiler but you;d want a hefty fire roaring for an hour or two before turning on the pump and even then the rads and nicely warm. nothin special.

I'm looking at getting a back boiler stove but am scared off by the price and the size of them. i seem to need a fairly big one to heat the above? still I'd rather have the boiler if possible. it seems a waste otherwise.

I'm a little confused over some of the advice I've gotten with regard to what size i need. any suggestions?

(apologies if I'm totally hijacking this thread)

my stove is a 7Kw ash .. made by evergreen stoves...just a stand alone unit though you could get this with a back boiler

during the snow and freezing period's we had it going 24/7 now at the moment just afternoon till bedtime...still haven't used the gas central heating:eek:

in total since late sept. about 200 euro of unseasoned timber bought last feb. and over spring/summer seasoned in the garden
10 40kg bags of supreme polish coal and 8 bales of briquttes bought throughout the winter and a couple of bags of real turf...this amount
should take us to mid feb...


recommend you get the attic insulated with 300mm of fiberglass that alone you'd feel the difference...are your windows single or double glazed?
i still need to get our attic to 300mm it is only the standard 100mm at the moment..

don't be put off by the high price of an installation well worth it and will pay for itself in a few years

if your house is a standard sized 3 bed semi i think the largest stove you would need is something in the line of a tripps tr-midi stove or a tr-8

keep warm

niall

Stove Fan

jackrussell007 wrote: »

hi folks /pegasus

the maths look attractive..I'm pouring coal into my fire every night, probably a full bucket + a block or two. and we got through a savage abmount of oil when it was cold last month.

what size of stove have you got ? I roughly calculated the amount of BTUs I needed the other night and it came out at around 60,000. I have a three bed semi-d built in the 70s. insulation not great. 6 x 6foot double rads downstairs 4 x 6 foot single rads upstairs.

at the moment we have a open fire with back boiler but you;d want a hefty fire roaring for an hour or two before turning on the pump and even then the rads and nicely warm. nothin special.

I'm looking at getting a back boiler stove but am scared off by the price and the size of them. i seem to need a fairly big one to heat the above? still I'd rather have the boiler if possible. it seems a waste otherwise.

I'm a little confused over some of the advice I've gotten with regard to what size i need. any suggestions?

(apologies if I'm totally hijacking this thread)

Hi,

Could you state the height of the radiators and then I could do a rough calculation for you? Another most important factor is the size of the room the stove will be going into. What are it's measurements? H,W,D? As we need these to find a stove with a high heat output to the boiler but low to the room. You say the insulation is not great, if anything though get at least 300mm fibreglass insulation in the loft, it makes a big difference.
I would imagine your original builders opening of your fireplace would be too small to inset the freestanding stove into the fireplace and so it would have to sit in front of the chimney breast. What is the depth of your existing hearth? Is the floor wood or concrete?
We bought our boiler stove from the UK and had it delivered as it saved us 500 euros. What is your budget? The plumbing should be reasonable but the hearth modification? Could you post up a pic of your fireplace?
Stove Fan:)

jackrussell007

hey stove fan

I'll post all of the above info this evening when I get home. thanks for your help

dowtcha

from my limited point knowledge on the subject, I would say that burning 3l oil per hour sounds high, I know that the nozzle on my OFCH burner is set at 0.6 US gal/hr which is 2.27 litres/hour, assuming the boiler is running flat out

as regards whether oil or solid fuel is cheaper, it seems that the timber based fuel should win hands down, so then it is just down to the initial set up cost or conversion from oil to solid fuel heating

Oil per litre has twice the energy as wood pellets do per kg, wood pellets cost a lot less per ton than half the cost of 1000l of oil

jackrussell007

Stove Fan wrote: »

Hi,

Could you state the height of the radiators and then I could do a rough calculation for you? Another most important factor is the size of the room the stove will be going into. What are it's measurements? H,W,D? As we need these to find a stove with a high heat output to the boiler but low to the room. You say the insulation is not great, if anything though get at least 300mm fibreglass insulation in the loft, it makes a big difference.
I would imagine your original builders opening of your fireplace would be too small to inset the freestanding stove into the fireplace and so it would have to sit in front of the chimney breast. What is the depth of your existing hearth? Is the floor wood or concrete?
We bought our boiler stove from the UK and had it delivered as it saved us 500 euros. What is your budget? The plumbing should be reasonable but the hearth modification? Could you post up a pic of your fireplace?
Stove Fan:)

hey

rather than derailing this thread any further (sorry op) I just started another over here. http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=70133431#post70133431

any advice is appreciated.
thanks

edit
I cant seem to remove my attached fireplace now!