Pellet boilers

James k1234

Hi can some help me please I am thinking off replacing a grant oil boiler with a pellet boiler has anyone done this house built in 2006 and with all radiator heating

irishchris

Yep wouldn't be a problem. I have a grant oil boiler and xtraflame pellet stove with boiler. If you are switching the grant oil boiler out it should just be a matter of connecting flow and return of pellet boiler to it. Obviously will need to run flu for pellet stove

James k1234

Did you find it cheaper to run then buying oil thanks

zg3409

Ideally you want a massive dry store for pellets in order to get best price and buy in bulk. You need relatively far more pellets versus oil, at a guess 4 times the volume and ideally stored indoors with no damp. This would fill a parking space in a garage. You then need a way to get pellets to the burner. For a burner you probably want a non Irish expensive model as European countries such as Switzerland have far more experience in real world reliable units. They tend to be slower to heat up, so you might need to put on heating 15 minutes earlier, and ideally on switch off they burn all pellets to ash, so they take a while to turn off. So from a timing point of view you want them on for at least 1 hour blocks compared to oil. In terms of bang for buck you may be looking at 15,000 euro for new set up, and you may save 500 a year. That's wild guessing, depends on situation, house size etc. Prices for pellets vary based on demand with a lot coming by ship from Germany. Make sure your house insulation is up to standard and heating is zoned with thermostat valves on at least every radiator.

If you have access to mains gas it may be cheaper, but maybe not in the long run. I suggest get a few quotes and you need a large pellet store and a non Irish pellet burner with local supporting plumber etc. Look at number of years to break even etc.

Compare fuel prices here

https://www.seai.ie/publications/Domestic-Fuel-Cost-Comparison.pdf

That table suggests 8 versus 6, so pellets are say 30% cheaper than oil for equivalent energy. How much do you spend on oil per year, you may save 30%, how much is pellet system, how many years to break even. That does not take into account delays delivering pellets versus oil (keep a few bags for when you run out) and if your old burner is on its way out a new burner will be needed anyway.

TaSeThat

Interesting post ZG as I'm in the same boat and possibly looking to replace my stove next year (it heats water and rads, small 2 bed cottage). Am I correct when reading the link you posted.

The Pellets cost per k/Wh (bulk) is 5.94.

The cost of smokeless Ovids per K/Wh is 6.26. However, that is at a price of 22.15 per 40kg bag. I get my 20kg bags from Easyglow which are currently costing 8.48 per 20kg (delivered). So the cost would be 16.96 per 40kg bag. As this is 24% cheaper than the cost in the link (if my calculations are correct), it follows that the cost per K/Wh would come down by 24%. This give a cost per kwh of 4.75 for smokeless Ovids (again if my calculations are correct), which is significantly cheaper than pellets.

So am I correct in thinking it would be madness to switch to a pellet as it would be costing me, per year, 5.94-4.75 per Kwh...or I have made a tits of the calculations in the link?

cheers in advance.