Domestic biomass rhi

[Stephen Blair]

[kevinjohnsonmbe]

Pics for Thrust SSC:

 

 

I'll do a brief summary of capacity etc when I get a minute. In essence, pellet boiler linked to solar thermal, pellet mill operates within output capacity of solar PV in a sunny day, kiln dried sawdust sourced from a mate with a mill. Sweet set up!

[difflock]

Am proper jealous o that neat set-up Kevin

[kevinjohnsonmbe]

Am proper jealous o that neat set-up Kevin

 

 

It wasn't without some initial set up problems. I learnt a key lesson about not splitting contractors on one job, they blamed each other for set up issues and argued about who was liable for rectification. Plus, what I didn't see on install, but is obvious now, the flue is difficult to access for sweeping.

 

Getting the 'recipe' right for pellets has also been tricky (mainly because I've been too busy to dedicate a day or two to tinker) but since we're running on a ton a year (20kg bags delivered roadside on a pallet) at £230, it's not made it to the top of the priority list yet. It will if the sun keeps shining though just so I'm using all the solar PV instead of feeding back to grid!

[difflock]

Excerpt per Kevin as above

"I learnt a key lesson about not splitting contractors on one job, they blamed each other for set up issues and argued about who was liable for rectification. "

boy oh boy, did I not learn that lesson, bigtime, when building a dwelling-hoouse "by the Grip"

[ArthurBottlesworth]

A ton a year!

Is that right?

[saltycdog]

nice system Kevin,i to agree with everything you have said about the rhi!!!, I have the log boiler (orlingo) linked up with solar thermals which at the moment are working away ansome,but I could,nt afford to run the boiler if I didn't source and process my own wood!!

[kevinjohnsonmbe]

Excerpt per Kevin as above

 

"I learnt a key lesson about not splitting contractors on one job, they blamed each other for set up issues and argued about who was liable for rectification. "

 

 

boy oh boy, did I not learn that lesson, bigtime, when building a dwelling-hoouse "by the Grip"

 

 

Once learnt never forgotten! It's served me well since!!

[kevinjohnsonmbe]

A ton a year!

Is that right?

 

 

Yes, I am a tightwad! Mrs J had to have a baby to force me to put the heating on! That boiler fires up once a day for hot water (16:00-17:30 after solar gain) when it's gone, it's gone! Heating predominantly comes from 4x log burners throughout the house.

[kevinjohnsonmbe]

nice system Kevin,i to agree with everything you have said about the rhi!!!, I have the log boiler (orlingo) linked up with solar thermals which at the moment are working away ansome,but I could,nt afford to run the boiler if I didn't source and process my own wood!!

 

 

Sourcing your own is the only way it can work in my view. And the other key enabler for making the switch from (in our case oil) to biomass was that our old oil boiler was 30yrs old and hanging in there by a thread. So we had to install new anyway, ripping out a serviceable existing boiler to install BM wouldn't be worth it in my view (domestic that is, commercial tariff might have a return on investment)