billt

Depends on what you mean by good. It splits fine, but bits fall off, the screws that clamp the adjustable side grips don't stay tight and the return adjustment locking screw is almost impossible to tighten effectively as it's too small and difficult to reach behind the top handle. And it's top heavy so liable to fall over when trying to move it on uneven ground; that's probably true of all of them though. Design's fair, quality control is poor.

I fitted an earlier version of this Laddomat Flue Thermostat for activation of loading valve when I installed my system. (Other makes are available.) No doubt you could make your own with a suitably high temperature sensor, but it's not worth the effort and time. No downsides, but the temperature setting needs to be done carefully.

Seems to apply to indivisible loads, so not applicable to a load of wood.

Storm Warning | George Monbiot It would seem that Mr Powell has a long history of supplying desperate-for-a-story tabloids with incredible weather forecasts.

Torrefaction - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia says "Torrefaction is a thermochemical treatment of biomass at 200 to 320 °C. It is carried out under atmospheric pressure and in the absence of oxygen, i.e. with no air. During the torrefaction process, the water contained in the biomass as well as superfluous volatiles are removed, and the biopolymers (cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin) partly decompose giving off various types of volatiles. The final product is the remaining solid, dry, blackened material[2] which is referred to as “torrefied biomass” or “bio-coal”. During the process, the biomass loses typically 20% of its mass (dry bone basis), while only 10% of the energy content in the biomass is lost. This energy (the volatiles) can be used as a heating fuel for the torrefaction process. After the biomass is torrefied it can be densified, usually into briquettes or pellets using conventional densification equipment, to further increase the density of the material and to improve its hydrophobic properties. This means that the final product repels water and thus can be stored in moist air or rain as opposed to the original biomass it is made of." Which sounds quite credible. Water in wood is stored in the cells, which have slightly permeable walls. If the structure is changed so that the cell walls become impermeable after the water is driven off then water won't be able to get into the fine structure of the wood so it stays dry internally.

I think that he meant the diesel burnt in transporting the water in normal logs.

This post maybe? http://arbtalk.co.uk/forum/firewood-forum/51295-stop-giving-your-logs-away-5.html#post780748

Looks like crack willow to me as well. It is hardwood, but that's not seasoned. The bark falls off as it dries. Burns OK when dry, but not for long, as it's about as dense as balsa!

The sensible way of supplying wood is to use a stacked measure like the stere or cord. That way you and the customer will get a reasonable level of consistency. I doubt that it'll happen in the UK though. They're nasty foreign measures and they remove the 'flexibility' in measurement that a lot of suppliers seem to like!

Building regs part J paragraph 2.8 says "2.8 Flues should be high enough to ensure sufficient draught to clear the products of combustion. The height necessary for this will depend upon the type of the appliance, the height of the building, the type of flue and the number of bends in it, and an assessment of local wind patterns. However, a minimum flue height of 4.5m could be satisfactory if the guidance in Paragraphs 2.10 to 2.12 is adopted. As an alternative approach, the calculation procedure within BS EN 13384-1:2005 can be used as the basis for deciding whether a chimney design will provide sufficient draught." It doesn't categorically say 4.5M is the minimum height, but you'ld need to present good evidence of adequate draught to a building inspector to get a much shorter flue accepted.

Current bid £675. Whoever pays that isn't getting a bargain; currently available new for £750 inc VAT & delivery, so a lot less than the ebay one if you're VAT registered. As it looks exactly like the Chinese ones available for about £650-750 from a number of resellers (and the German one referred to earlier), I wouldn't put it in the high quality category myself! (I bought one last year for £690 new from another seller; it splits OK, but bits keep falling off!)

Renewable Heat Incentive: consultation on proposals for a domestic scheme - Department of Energy and Climate Change Glancing through the new consultation document it looks as though only pellet boilers will qualify, although it is rather vague. The justification is that they want to ensure that the fuel quality is sufficiently consistent to ensure that the boiler will operate efficiently at all times - not something you can guarantee from your run of the mill log supplier! Para 94 P 34 says "We are proposing to introduce a sustainable fuel eligibility requirement following a transition period because of the time necessary to establish an approved supplier system. We intend that from April 2014, consumers would have to purchase the biomass for their boiler from one of the approved suppliers. As evidence, consumers would be asked to keep their invoices to show they have purchased from approved suppliers and to submit them annually to the RHI scheme administrator as a condition of receiving their RHI payment. Before then, we would recommend that consumers purchase sustainable fuel." It would seem that pellets are the easy way to control fuel quality, and it's probably a lot easier to fit industrial pelleting operations in with the bureaucracy.

That surprised me; the last lot of coal that I bought was 2 tonnes in one delivery and VAT was charged at 5%. You may be misunderstanding the de minimis rule: "3.2.1 Supplies deemed to be for domestic use Supplies of certain small quantities of fuel and power - known as de minimis - are always treated as being made for domestic use, even when the supply is to a business customer. " HMRC site says: "3.2.2 Other supplies that are for domestic use Supplies of fuel and power that exceed the de minimis limits are for domestic use only if they are for use in a dwelling or certain types of residential accommodation " HM Revenue & Customs If you use wood for a log boiler based CH system it is perfectly reasonable to buy an artic load and process it yourself for domestic use,it should provide 3 or so years supply. I keep thinking about it myself, but it's too expensive!