switch from wood pellet to oil

dozydelilah · 18-01-2021 6:16pm #1

hey guys. i have a woodpellet heating system and its about to die, is it very complicated to switch to oil? any idea what it would cost. I have solid fuel heating besides from stove. I have no idea what I'm doing or where to start. any help would be greatfully recieved.

Biker1 · 18-01-2021 6:22pm

dozydelilah wrote: »

hey guys. i have a woodpellet heating system and its about to die, is it very complicated to switch to oil? any idea what it would cost. I have solid fuel heating besides from stove. I have no idea what I'm doing or where to start. any help would be greatfully recieved.

Was in the same position last year.
Installed a Grant condensing oil boiler myself without any difficulty. Just connect to the flow and return that are already there. If you need to upgrade controls now is the time.

dozydelilah · 18-01-2021 6:28pm

Biker1 wrote: »

Was in the same position last year.
Installed a Grant condensing oil boiler myself without any difficulty. Just connect to the flow and return that are already there. If you need to upgrade controls now is the time.

thanks @biker1 any estimate of the cost and is it a plumber I go to, seriously I am in the dark as to who does these things

CrazyFather1 · 18-01-2021 7:58pm

Sourcing an oil boiler will be the biggest issue. I would start ringing around and see what you can get. What size is the wood pellet stove

dozydelilah · 18-01-2021 11:57pm

CrazyFather1 wrote: »

Sourcing an oil boiler will be the biggest issue. I would start ringing around and see what you can get. What size is the wood pellet stove

Like i'd know that, i honestly haven't a clue.::o: it heats a 2200 square foot 2 story house, if that's any clue

Irlmully · 28-01-2021 7:43pm

I'm in the same boat. Wood Pellet boiler is a pain. No one knows anything about them. Impossible to source parts. Getting bulk pellets is a pain too. Long waits for delivery. I want to switch to oil. Would love if someone could give an idea of cost. I guessing it's a simple case of plumbing new boiler to the existing pipe work , and of course installing a tank.

I have a Kedco X 24 KW boiler.

Lenar3556 · 29-01-2021 1:35am

Irlmully wrote: »

I'm in the same boat. Wood Pellet boiler is a pain. No one knows anything about them. Impossible to source parts. Getting bulk pellets is a pain too. Long waits for delivery. I want to switch to oil. Would love if someone could give an idea of cost. I guessing it's a simple case of plumbing new boiler to the existing pipe work , and of course installing a tank.

I have a Kedco X 24 KW boiler.

In the region of €2,500 - €3,000 I would think

Tom44 · 29-01-2021 6:40pm

Lenar3556 wrote: »

In the region of €2,500 - €3,000 I would think

€3,500 to €4,000 at least.

€2,500 wouldn't even cover materials,
Boiler, flue, pump, magna filter and clock, & fittings.
Tank, fittings, concrete base & labour.

+ It all needs commissioning, if not, you have no guarantee and insurance.

And possibly a flush of existing system !

Lenar3556 · 29-01-2021 9:27pm

Tom44 wrote: »

€3,500 to €4,000 at least.

€2,500 wouldn't even cover materials,
Boiler, flue, pump, magna filter and clock, & fittings.
Tank, fittings, concrete base & labour.

+ It all needs commissioning, if not, you have no guarantee and insurance.

And possibly a flush of existing system !

I think your are being a little severe at that.
A quality boiler and balanced flue kit - about €1350
A standard oil tank about €300
Pipe and fittings - €200
Labour 2 days at €350 + vat per day - €794

That’s €2600 incl Vat. I would see some potential for miscellaneous additional costs - but hardly another €1,400?

Magnetic filter - Not necessarily essential, but I would agree a worthwhile addition at circa €100

Power flush - if it were necessary maybe, but I wouldn’t propose this as a standard procedure. If the pellet boiler was installed correctly it shouldn’t be necessary.

Tank base could be a sight variable - depends on site conditions.

I’m not sure where you are going with comments on warranty and insurance. Of course the system should be commissioned in accordance with the manufacturers specification and it is reasonable to expect that any reputable installer will do this. Where does the insurance come into it?

Wearb · 29-01-2021 9:47pm

Lenar3556 wrote: »

I think your are being a little severe at that.
A quality boiler and balanced flue kit - about €1350
A standard oil tank about €300
Pipe and fittings - €200
Labour 2 days at €350 + vat per day - €794

That’s €2600 incl Vat. I would see some potential for miscellaneous additional costs - but hardly another €1,400?

Magnetic filter - Not necessarily essential, but I would agree a worthwhile addition at circa €100

Power flush - if it were necessary maybe, but I wouldn’t propose this as a standard procedure. If the pellet boiler was installed correctly it shouldn’t be necessary.

Tank base could be a sight variable - depends on site conditions.

I’m not sure where you are going with comments on warranty and insurance. Of course the system should be commissioned in accordance with the manufacturers specification and it is reasonable to expect that any reputable installer will do this. Where does the insurance come into it?

I wouldn't even call to quote to a person who mentioned a figure of 2600 for the items that Tom listed.

L1011 · 29-01-2021 9:50pm

CrazyFather1 wrote: »

Sourcing an oil boiler will be the biggest issue.

They're manufactured in Ireland and the most common burners are Italian, I don't see why there'd be much issue sourcing one?

I suspect my British gas boiler is going to be a bollox to keep going in comparison.

Lenar3556 · 29-01-2021 10:37pm

Wearb wrote: »

I wouldn't even call to quote to a person who mentioned a figure of 2600 for the items that Tom listed.

Well the query was what would it cost to replace a wood pellet boiler with an oil fired equivalent.

I had a 30kw Bosch LPG system boiler fitted in my own house a couple of years ago. It came to €2,900 incl. VAT, but it was a new install and there was a bit of additional work.

I was involved indirectly in a tender process for local authority housing heating upgrades recently. The tenders had unit costs per line item depending on what was required to bring the installation to a particular specification.
Some were boiler house applications, others external boilers. The average boiler replacement was €2300 incl vat, and that was for grant Vortex.
There were a sizeable quantity of houses involved.

Wearb · 29-01-2021 10:48pm

Lenar3556 wrote: »

Well the query was what would it cost to replace a wood pellet boiler with an oil fired equivalent.

I had a 30kw Bosch LPG system boiler fitted in my own house a couple of years ago. It came to €2,900 incl. VAT, but it was a new install and there was a bit of additional work.

I was involved indirectly in a tender process for local authority housing heating upgrades recently. The tenders had unit costs per line item depending on what was required to bring the installation to a particular specification.
Some were boiler house applications, others external boilers. The average boiler replacement was €2300 incl vat, and that was for grant Vortex.
There were a sizeable quantity of houses involved.

Ok, not having a go, but how much would you think it would cost to supply and mount a tank and bring oil line and remote acting fire valve to boiler?

I am only asking this, because people often have unrealistic expectations of what something should cost.

Lenar3556 · 29-01-2021 11:20pm

Wearb wrote: »

Ok, not having a go, but how much would you think it would cost to supply and mount a tank and bring oil line and remote acting fire valve to boiler?

I am only asking this, because people often have unrealistic expectations of what something should cost.

And I don’t want to provide someone with any unreasonable expectations of cost either, so happy to be pulled up! I’m not in the heating profession, but am exposed to it on occasion.

I suppose installing a new tank is a variable that is going to depend greatly on the customer specific case. But to throw a guess on an average set-up;

A tank (single skin) - €300
10mm pipe - €30
Tank Fittings - €18
Remote fire valve - €35
Base materials - €75
Tiger Loop - €50
Labour equivalent 1 full day @ €350 + vat.

So would thinking about €900?

Wearb · 29-01-2021 11:30pm

Lenar3556 wrote: »

And I don’t want to provide someone with any unreasonable expectations of cost either, so happy to be pulled up! I’m not in the heating profession, but am exposed to it on occasion.

I suppose installing a new tank is a variable that is going to depend greatly on the customer specific case. But to throw a guess on an average set-up;

A tank (single skin) - €300
10mm pipe - €30
Tank Fittings - €18
Remote fire valve - €35
Base materials - €75
Tiger Loop - €50
Labour equivalent 1 full day @ €350 + vat.

So would thinking about €900?

Not a bad stab at it, but I'd be looking for a bit more for that list. You need to add a bit on to those items for time sourcing and collecting and having to stand over each item. eg Fire valve is usually more than that. Tank fittings, more (up-to-spec filter for example). Tiger loop and 2 hoses, more again. Nowadays most installers are fitting double skinned (bunded) tanks. Most want some sort of gauge on them.

Anyway thanks for going to the trouble of doing the list. People will have a more realistic idea of costs because of it.

switch from wood pellet to oil

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