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[Paul Smith]

Can any one offer any advice? This question was asked on a non arb related forum.

 

Having just paid 49p per litre for heating oil (32p last September and 22p the time before that) I am getting brassed off being beholden to oil companies especially as oil my be 60p this autumn.

 

I am thinking about a boiler to burn either Bio mass or wood pellets to run our centeral heating at home. The oil boiler is about U/S anyway. Bio mass is anything, wood, wood pellets, Mischanthus grass, wood chip, wheat, barley etc etc

 

Does anyone have any experiance of these boilers, looking at about 32KW capacity. Cost wise pellets are about £170 a ton, this equates energy wise to 34p per litre for oil. Wood chips are way below that but would need bulk storage and handling, not a lot of energy per ton and lots more ash. Boilers start at about 5K but a remote boiler in a shed (or container) with integral bulk fuel supply would be 15 or 16K plus instalation costs. These would be considerable as underground pipework is needed under a tarmac drive.

 

Now I can source as much free dry sawdust as I want, so I could maybe make my own pellets but again a large capital investment as it is apparantly not as simple as some would make it look. A mobile pellet making set up on a trailer is around 20K, makes around 600kg an hour. I have seen a little Ameriacn machine for 2K but that is just the pelleter. Or I could maybe hire some time at a miscanthus grass pelleting site locally, or buy Miscanthus grass pelleted at 120 a ton or so from them in big bags but some boilers dont like Miscanthus residue. Add machinery costs to the boiler costs and the savings on 4,000 litres of oil a year (say 2k at present) dont really stack up.

 

Dont have gas, they wont install it, to far (300 yards) from the end of the existing main. Ground heat pumps are about the same running costs as oil in cost per KW.

 

I am sure wood is the fuel of the next 20 years and the idea of free fuel is appealing, at present there is a small grant providing you jump through a few green hoops. For buisnesses there is 100% writedown against tax in year one so great but private houses it is £1500 max.

 

Anybody and thoughts and experiance?.

 

Thanks

[treedave]

Deerman - Looked at this myself the other year and had the same problems, couldn't even qualify for the green rebate due to the old building I'm in. Went for a 15kw back boiler linked into the existing old oil burner via neutraliser system. This means that 2/3 of hot water and heating is from free wood, but I have the benefit of someone at home most of the time. Not the answer your after but it all came in at 2K fitted and running, so it will take 2 years to pay for itself (at present prices!) and the rest is gravy!

If you don't want to go that route the APF was awash with log/dust/pellet burners, so if you can wait that long it's a good source of info / products.

Have you been here?

http://www.lowcarbonbuildings.org.uk

 

FAQs search: biomass, is worth it

 

Hope it helps:icon14:

[Arborworks Ltd]

Take a look at our site, my wife just posted the news and offers page on our site today, we now stock and distribute the true multi fuel boiler, oil, gas, firewood, pellets and heat logs, this machine will burn all of them if required. web http://www.arborworksltd.co.uk

[Log-ologist]

Wood pellets are expensive. Try looking for a log fired boiler. They may be better for you application and budget.

 

http://www.dunsterwoodfuels.co.uk/boilers.html

[tree monkey]

Why dont you get a big wood burner and chuck timber in it,if no timber you could always find companies with wast pallets and burn them.

[igottacabstar]

Why dont you get a big wood burner and chuck timber in it,if no timber you could always find companies with wast pallets and burn them.

 

LOL, bet you wish you'd thought of that Deer man:laugh:

[Chris Sheppard]

We have one of those waste wood boilers at work that are just like a straw bale boiler but a bit smaller and it burns all the wood that's no good for firewood and most of the slabwood from the sawmill. For it's size (approx6ft tall x5 across and 6 Deep) it kicks out some heat - it heats a massive house (Estate owners Eldest Son lives there) and their swimming Pool.

 

There must be smaller models available somewhere.

 

Pellets are a good fuel but IMO won't catch on over here for the forseeable future and there isn't the supply infrastructure in place yet (there was a planning application just been refused for a peelet plant near us that was going to be producing 50,000 tonnes a year!)

 

Chips seem to work well in big sysytems such as for groups of houses or tower blocks (I was quite impressed when we went to look at the system South Yorkshire Council use in there tower blocks - was one of the site visits we did as part of the IGNITE course)

 

Asmentioned before though - very bulky to store, not great to handle, chip quality often dubious and automated syatems have a tendency to clog the augers if the chips aint perfect.

 

My thoughts, especially if you've acces to Arb waste, would be a decent waste wood boiler.

[niftysteve]

http://www.farm2000.co.uk/

deer man i mentioned these a while ago on another post maybe this is the way to go

[Chris Sheppard]

http://www.farm2000.co.uk/

deer man i mentioned these a while ago on another post maybe this is the way to go

 

Thats like the one we have

[skyhuck]

I a ruffle boiler like the farm 2000 but bigger,does my job heats 16 radiator and all the hot water you could want, all on green wood straight form jobs