Woodpellet Boiler

[Loftyrules]

Is anyone running a 45kw woodpellet boiler to heat a single house? If so what are the best makes, any things to look out for?

Any companies out there feel free to give me your best sales pitch

 

[Mucky overalls]

Have you no other potential use for heat, such as a dairy, office, workshop etc ???

Then you should qualify for commercial RHI...

Were just fitting a 80kw Froling wood pellet boiler to heat a farmhouse, dairy and a heating loop in the parlour.

 

[Loftyrules]

No sadly not, just a domestic house. I do know the commercial benefits so it is a shame

 

[Mucky overalls]

we went with a froling as they are Austrian and known for quality, what are you considering?

 

[Loftyrules]

Looked at Treco & they are good but quite pricey, wanted to see what others were about

 

[NavitasBen]

Windhager are very good, but also quite pricey.

 

[Bernt]

we use ETA boilers, they are very good aswell but again quite pricey, i think the Austrian boilers do tend to be more expensive but to be honest i would go for that over a cheaper british make any day!!,
Just my personal opinion though

 

[Mucky overalls]

When we started looking at the cost of a Biomass boiler installation we were surprised at the sheer lack of detail within the quotes provided.

There are so many other costs involved with an install especially a commercial install and we went for the firm with the most detailed quote provided, where we could see the costs involved throughout the whole project.

We therefore could see the cost of the Froling boiler, a boiler that we knew had an excellent reputation within the industry. There are many different makes of boilers out there with similar specifications but vastly different reputations within the industry.

The boiler is what you live with for over 20 years and the installation is what you look at for 20 years so both are very important in our world.

Today the finishing touches were being made to the install so we should be in a position to light it up tomorrow.

 

[Bernt]

i couldnt agree more with you, im off to austria in 3 weeks to go to the Froling factory and to speak with the technical team and have a thoroughly good look at their boilers as we are looking to offer our customers a bit more choice.

 

[Loftyrules]

i couldnt agree more with you, im off to austria in 3 weeks to go to the Froling factory and to speak with the technical team and have a thoroughly good look at their boilers as we are looking to offer our customers a bit more choice.

Do you offer site visits? New house is in a BB8 8 postcode.

 

[Mucky overalls]

It will be an excellent visit I'm sure. Shame the Ski season is over!!

I'm sure the hotel they put you up in will have a Froling boiler and a piping hot outdoor swimming pool!!

 

[neilo]

Is anyone running a 45kw woodpellet boiler to heat a single house? If so what are the best makes, any things to look out for?

Any companies out there feel free to give me your best sales pitch

We have had a 24kW wood pellet boiler heating a single house for 2 years (couldn't make it fit with commercial rhi requirements either, and domestic rhi was 'imminent' at the time) . When it works it is every bit as reliable and convenient as oil. Ours is an MCZ boiler, and I couldn't really recommend that make, but the technology is sound. We have had a few niggling problems from substandard components, which are replaced, but still not sorted fully.

Domestic rhi has just been launched, which will pay back a much higher rate than commercial, but for only 7 years. By my reckoning, it should pay for the boiler, installation and free fuel (plus a bit) over the 7 years.

 

[Simon Glew]

Two important points to remember when looking at Biomass

1. you get what you pay for(to a certain degree) the Austrian technology is by far the best you will be safe with any of the main stream companies, ie ETA Hertz Froling Heizomat windhager etc although they are not a fit and forget option they are relatively trouble free. however an Italian boiler such as MCZ will have a much lower install cost of say 6k,at the end of the day it will work although as stated it will breakdown regularly and does need cleaning on a weekly basis. A Austrian alternative will likely be 12k plus installed. the choice is yours! both have a market
2. It is also all about the paperwork ofgem are a complete nightmare if you go ahead make sure the price is inclusive of the RHI application and that the company will guide you through this right up to the point when making your first application for payment, GET A LETTER AGREEING THIS AND HOLD MONEY BACK UNTIL THE APPLICATION HAS BEEN PASSED. This will be the biggest issue with biomass guaranteed, at the moment over 80% of applications are returned because they are filled in incorrectly

 

[J B]

if you go ahead make sure the price is inclusive of the RHI application and that the company will guide you through this right up to the point when making your first application for payment, GET A LETTER AGREEING THIS AND HOLD MONEY BACK UNTIL THE APPLICATION HAS BEEN PASSED. This will be the biggest issue with biomass guaranteed, at the moment over 80% of applications are returned because they are filled in incorrectly

I disagree.
As long as the installers promise to provide all the correct information to enable you to complete the application there's a considerable cost saving by doing it yourself.
These folks charge at least a grand for a bit of on-line form filling. I've done five now and I've not charged more than £400
The folks at OFGEM HQ are *very* helpful, and when they "are returned because they are filled in incorrectly" they tell you what's wrong and how to rectify it.

Simples

 

[neilo]

1. you get what you pay for(to a certain degree) the Austrian technology is by far the best you will be safe with any of the main stream companies, ie ETA Hertz Froling Heizomat windhager etc although they are not a fit and forget option they are relatively trouble free. however an Italian boiler such as MCZ will have a much lower install cost of say 6k,at the end of the day it will work although as stated it will breakdown regularly and does need cleaning on a weekly basis. A Austrian alternative will likely be 12k plus installed. the choice is yours! both have a market

Strange how the price of a pellet boiler has near doubled in 2 years, as the RHI becomes closer to reality.

On our MCZ, the boiler is fine and works very well. The only problems we have had, have been with a couple of substandard components (mainly the igniter, which is essentially just a glow plug, and a couple of other less important bits) which they are still struggling to correct but assure me is now sorted. The rest of the mechanism works as well as any of the more expensive (2 or 3x!!!) boilers I had quoted. As for cleaning weekly, we have to rattle a few springs every few days and clean the ash out, with the self contained collector, after close on a ton of pellets.

 

[Simon Glew]

I disagree.
As long as the installers promise to provide all the correct information to enable you to complete the application there's a considerable cost saving by doing it yourself.
These folks charge at least a grand for a bit of on-line form filling. I've done five now and I've not charged more than £400
The folks at OFGEM HQ are *very* helpful, and when they "are returned because they are filled in incorrectly" they tell you what's wrong and how to rectify it.

Simples

You have hit the nail on the head "as long as the installers promise to provide" yes well we have phone calls on a daily basis where they have but then don't! and any reputable company will do your paperwork free of charge. the guys at ofgem are helpful but that dosnt stop the paperwork being sent in wrong in the first place.

 

[Simon Glew]

Strange how the price of a pellet boiler has near doubled in 2 years, as the RHI becomes closer to reality.

On our MCZ, the boiler is fine and works very well. The only problems we have had, have been with a couple of substandard components (mainly the igniter, which is essentially just a glow plug, and a couple of other less important bits) which they are still struggling to correct but assure me is now sorted. The rest of the mechanism works as well as any of the more expensive (2 or 3x!!!) boilers I had quoted. As for cleaning weekly, we have to rattle a few springs every few days and clean the ash out, with the self contained collector, after close on a ton of pellets.

As i said there is a market for both,with MCZ the ignition plug has been re designed and the new ones work fine, (the old ones were designed for 230volts not 240volts mains). The other main fault seems to be the auger drive motor pin which becomes loose then the auger fails to turn.
Generally the compact 24 works well,the 36 seems to have more issues especially with smoking.

Interested to hear about yours !

 

[neilo]

As i said there is a market for both,with MCZ the ignition plug has been re designed and the new ones work fine, (the old ones were designed for 230volts not 240volts mains). The other main fault seems to be the auger drive motor pin which becomes loose then the auger fails to turn.
Generally the compact 24 works well,the 36 seems to have more issues especially with smoking.

Interested to hear about yours !

Fyi, the 240v ignition plugs are failing now too, albeit not as quickly. Apparently they've just brought out a ceramic one, but not arrived yet.

Still have to have the auger fail, but on 3rd set of burning crucible already, which is a new design and is starting to fail.

 

[Simon Glew]

Fyi, the 240v ignition plugs are failing now too, albeit not as quickly. Apparently they've just brought out a ceramic one, but not arrived yet.

Still have to have the auger fail, but on 3rd set of burning crucible already, which is a new design and is starting to fail.

Interesting, we have only had one crucible problem on a compact 24

 

[J B]

any reputable company will do your paperwork free of charge.

Really?

IME, most want at least a grand