Log boiler

[Poncherello1976]

I am looking at putting in a Log burner in our barn to heat our house and 2 other cottages as well as other buildings in the yard in the future. Am looking at 60KW boiler, but could go larger. Can anyone on here give me some pros and cons of having a boiler this size on logs. What kind of KWh/kg or T are you getting from the logs. It obviously depends on the wood a bit, but a general idea would be good.
Just starting to look in to this and so am a bit of a novice!

 

[f0ster]

first off, keep away from the e classic (central boiler) they are starting to drop like flies. the burn chamber starts to leak water, you might find a 60kw is a bit on the small side for a log burner. with a log burner the output is up and down a lot due to it burning out and then being loaded up again. so you need a larger boiler than you need. also someone will have to feed it, at least four times a day in winter. and before you can get your energy you will have handled the logs at least three times.

 

[ISCO]

We have eco Angus 80kw with 4000 litre accumulatkr tank heating 2 medium sized 4 bed farmhouses.

Key is season ed logs. If wood dry heat to spare and all parts of house very hot.

There is a lot of work filling boiler. We livestock farm so always there and not an issue.

We have own woodland however when softwood was cheap, around £30 per ton we just bought in. We could use about 50 ton softwood per year.

Bought logsplitter however usually hire processor.

 

[Poncherello1976]

first off, keep away from the e classic (central boiler) they are starting to drop like flies. the burn chamber starts to leak water, you might find a 60kw is a bit on the small side for a log burner. with a log burner the output is up and down a lot due to it burning out and then being loaded up again. so you need a larger boiler than you need. also someone will have to feed it, at least four times a day in winter. and before you can get your energy you will have handled the logs at least three times.

Original quote was for a 60, but it may move up to 100kw as we have some more space we could heat so the extra capacity would be good. Although we are always around as we have livestock, the handling of the logs is putting me off slightly though!

 

[Poncherello1976]

We have eco Angus 80kw with 4000 litre accumulatkr tank heating 2 medium sized 4 bed farmhouses.

Key is season ed logs. If wood dry heat to spare and all parts of house very hot.

There is a lot of work filling boiler. We livestock farm so always there and not an issue.

We have own woodland however when softwood was cheap, around £30 per ton we just bought in. We could use about 50 ton softwood per year.

Bought logsplitter however usually hire processor.

Did you think originally you would use 50T of wood, or were you expecting a bit less. I am being told 40 T for the 60kw boiler.

 

[ISCO]

We were told all sorts of figures. The guy who installed did tell us honest figures so yes. This would be in.line with your 40 ton for a 60kw.

 

[TripleSix]

Fit the Biggest buffer tank possible.

Are you sure you're ok with processing and loading 40t of timber into it per year?

 

[rollestonpark]

Personally, I'd go with a wood chip boiler with buffer.
Will be a lot less work for you.

Messing about with that sort of volume and possibly more in the future is quite a lot of work.
All the cutting, splitting and seasoning etc and storing, will require a lot of work, never mind the loading of the boiler and then removing the ash etc etc.

And depending on the RHI payments, I'd seriously consider going without for a new install.
The payments are low and the paperwork for ofgem is an absolute shocker, plus the thought of an audit is always on your mind.
If you get a boiler that will burn rough material, like wood waste, which is a much better price than virgin chip these days.
I ran a 30kw Reka boiler, which had augers big enough to support a 500kw boiler, almost anything went up it.
It heated the old farm house for 9 years easily, with no buffer. (although I would fit a buffer nowadays)
Mrs said it was too hot in the house, lol.
I used waste wood at 15% moisture@ £35/ton, no RHI on it, no hassle from ofgem.

Have since upgraded, but still look back at my old Reka boiler fondly as it never let me down in 9 years of running and I never needed a service engineer.
Chris

 

[ISCO]

Personally, I'd go with a wood chip boiler with buffer.
Will be a lot less work for you.

Messing about with that sort of volume and possibly more in the future is quite a lot of work.
All the cutting, splitting and seasoning etc and storing, will require a lot of work, never mind the loading of the boiler and then removing the ash etc etc.

And depending on the RHI payments, I'd seriously consider going without for a new install.
The payments are low and the paperwork for ofgem is an absolute shocker, plus the thought of an audit is always on your mind.
If you get a boiler that will burn rough material, like wood waste, which is a much better price than virgin chip these days.
I ran a 30kw Reka boiler, which had augers big enough to support a 500kw boiler, almost anything went up it.
It heated the old farm house for 9 years easily, with no buffer. (although I would fit a buffer nowadays)
Mrs said it was too hot in the house, lol.
I used waste wood at 15% moisture@ £35/ton, no RHI on it, no hassle from ofgem.

Have since upgraded, but still look back at my old Reka boiler fondly as it never let me down in 9 years of running and I never needed a service engineer.
Chris

Chip or pellet boilers are undoubtedly much less work although when we priced them they were 2 or 3 times price of log boiler with greater servicing costs.

You pay your money and make your choice dependent on circumstances.

 

[Pie face]

You are going to spend an average of an hour a day on processing fire wood and feeding / cleaning the thing plus whos going to look after it when your not there. A chip or pellet boiler will happily look after itself for a couple of weeks before it needs any attention, more money yes but worth every penny IMHO

 

[Poncherello1976]

After looking in to it a bit more, it looks like it. I am now looking in to pellets or woodchip. More interested in woodchip as I could do some processing myself. I was originally looking at logs to do 1 house, but the project has potentially grown a bit, and out grown logs.

 

[oldoaktree]

Go for wood chip/pellet as a few have said feeding a log boiler will be a job on its own

 

[Poncherello1976]

Thanks. After a bit of looking around I will probably go for a pellet and log boiler. Summer it can use the logs and in the winter it can feed itself pellets. Bit more expensive but will cut out a lot of hassle. Now to apply for planning!