House heating that isn't wood fueled?

[Squaredy]

15 minutes ago, topchippyles said:

Makes sense but i do not think you are factoring the grants that are available for these type of boilers and you can receive around 30 % back for the first 4 years i think it is on your usage,Martin my mate paid around 18k to put his system in and every year he goes online and puts in his meter readings of what he has used for the year and gets thousands back and he told me that its nearly paid for this year.Worth looking into surly.

Aren’t there threads on here where members who get RHI for domestic heating are saying what a nightmare it is to actually get the paperwork right and they wish they hadn’t bothered?

[topchippyles]

Great return on just claiming your usage back year on year,When i say grant i meant you claim it back as the boiler is working so in effect you pay to put the system in and the grant side is your return on usage.

Edited December 29, 2018 by topchippyles

[Woodworks]

1 minute ago, topchippyles said:

Great return on just claiming your usage back year on year,When i say grant i meant you claim it back as the boiler is working so in effect you pay to put the system in and the grant side is your return on usage.

This is less likely to be the case in a well-insulated house. As I understand it you get paid per kWh generated but if you are not using many kWh your return is poor. Probably best suited to old properties where insulation is not an easy option. 

 

If I was doing a new build it would be super insulated and except having to maintain an MVHR system which has to be less hassle than feeding a boiler or stove. 

[topchippyles]

10 minutes ago, Woodworks said:

This is less likely to be the case in a well-insulated house. As I understand it you get paid per kWh generated but if you are not using many kWh your return is poor. Probably best suited to old properties where insulation is not an easy option. 

 

If I was doing a new build it would be super insulated and except having to maintain an MVHR system which has to be less hassle than feeding a boiler or stove. 

Good point but what i was impressed with with martins setup was the hot water side,I think it was around a 300 litre tank that was always ready for use,Remember asking him how long would the water stay warm without lighting the boiler and he said around 4 days which sounded impressive to me.Its just something i came across which makes you think as a developer so being on a small scale as i am.

Edited December 29, 2018 by topchippyles

[jfc]

Hi J,

If you were still living nr Edinburgh I would have suggested you talk to the folk at Leep {Lothian energy efficiency project}, one of my mates works there and knows lots about the subject and what grants /schemes etc are available. Must be something similar down the West Country. New build you have lots of options available (too many choices probably). Cheers Jan.

[Big J]

17 minutes ago, jfc said:

Hi J,

If you were still living nr Edinburgh I would have suggested you talk to the folk at Leep {Lothian energy efficiency project}, one of my mates works there and knows lots about the subject and what grants /schemes etc are available. Must be something similar down the West Country. New build you have lots of options available (too many choices probably). Cheers Jan.

 

That would have been interesting! From researching grants for forestry, there seems to be quite a separation with regards to Scotland and England. Possibly the same with woodfuel.

 

If I was to stay with wood fuel, I would only consider going for a a district heating type affair with large boiler, even larger accumulator and heating to the house, machinery workshop and possibly something else (in the longer term). I much prefer the idea of a large, hot burn every few days rather than constant feeding. 

 

That being said, a big 50-70kw boiler (enough to heat a well insulated house and a not so well insulated workshop when required) will easily do a tonne a week through winter, if not more. You then get into the economy of using wood as a fuel when your cheapest delivered in tonne is presently about £50 (if you are lucky). With timber prices only going up, it doesn't seem like a sensible plan. 

 

 

[benedmonds]

My business partner has a pellet fed boiler and buys in pellets even though he has access to hundreds of tons of arb arisings.. He is pretty happy with it and I think the rhi make it well worth while.. It is a pain if something goes wrong.. You do need to have a wood burner for the atmosphere and great as a backup when your other system breaks down.. 

 

If I were self biulding and had space would go for a well insulated house with gshp and a woodburner for atmosphere and back up.  My wife is always opening windows for fresh air and kids don't know how to shut doors so a passive house is never going to work.. 

[Lucan]

In the early stages of a build, as with Difflock (having ample free wood just a few hundred meters away), have not gone down the wood fuel route, instead looking at a GSHP + PV for UFH and a MVHR (plus Swedish style stove for atmosphere).

 

A few reasons we're not going with a log boiler, a main one being just can't be bothered with the hassle and commitment tbh.

 

[difflock]

I seriously seriously considered the GSHP option the time I put in the grant aided(50% on the installation costs with a relatively low ceiling) logwood boiler.

It would, in hindsight, have been the sensible option, but I allowed(the younger fitter) me to be seduced by the "free" firewood I had available.

Also re-considered it under our RHI scheme, but the installation costs were significent.

Perhaps I still should have, BUT with 2250l  of Kero lasting 2 years, probably not cost effective, since the domestic RHI only got 7 years payback.

Anyway my pond is now where the groundloops would have been.

mth

[Mull]

Has anyone experience of Air Source Heat pumps, perhaps in combination with PV and UFH, good insulation and ventilation; plus a log burner for extras?

 

I know a pub not so far away who uses an ASHP to heat their annexe holding the bedroom accommodation at the Inn. I also knew a chap in an old stone cottage in the next village using one in combination with a logburner. He seemed happy with it.

 

I looked into them myself when I was doing up my cottage, alongside my log burner, but the placement in the cellar was not viable due to there being an open well down there. 

 

Is it conceivable that wood pellets and biomass are going to suffer the same supply/cost/import issues as logs eventually? 

 

The South Yorkshire Energy Centre offers some good information and you don't have to live in Yorkshire to get advice from them.

 

I turned to the Derbyshire Eco Centre for advice too; and SPAB is also a good information source for  discussing the combination of traditional building methods with new technologies and modern requirements.

 

Does air source still attract grant money?

 

If it does it’s probably not very economical.