Does anyone have a biomass boiler?

[atticusclaw]

I am looking at the log gasification boilers since we have our own log supply. We would probably need a 40kw set up with an accumulator tank. Does anyone have a similar set up? How do you find it?

Just coming in again to say we went for the biomass boiler and it was the wrong decision.

The cost was about £15k for a system with a large enough accumulator tank. If we can get the bloody thing to work properly the RHI payments should cover the cost (but over 7 years). We have a wood supply as mentioned up thread but in October the rules are changing again so that you have to register your woodland and have your supply approved. This means that anyone currently running their biomass systems on scrap wood will have to have a rethink and buy from a registered supplier otherwise the RHI payments will stop.

The house constantly smells of smoke (as do I) so do not ever be persuaded that its ok to have the system in an integral garage or cellar . We have had constant problems so far with the water not getting up to temperature which at the moment means luke warm showers but in the winter could be a real problem with the heating. To give an example we have had the boiler going constantly since 7pm last night using two loads of wood and the water temperature has not moved from the 50 degrees it was at before we started burning the batch.

If anyone is considering it then don't do it think very carefully.

Gosh atticus, I'm so sorry to hear it's worked out badly. Is there anything you can do to get help with sorting it (do they have engineers for this type of thing? Are there warranties?). It cannot be right that your house smells of smoke - I worry about your health here, and not just the system's functionality.

I have no experience at all of these boilers, and no knowledge so what I'm about to say is based on entire ignorance. However, I have heard a lot of people say that with woodburning stoves, there is a real knack to getting many models to release as much heat as possible. Could it be the same with your boiler?

Oh, and I find all the energy policies on this and other things absolutely stupid - the scrap burning being a prime example. There are massive inconsistencies all over the place and all kinds of illogical caveats. Not only that, but there seem to be inconsistencies between energy saving measures and things like planning policy. It is confusing and puts me in a bad mood.

To be fair the engineers have been out a lot. I just don't think the systems are as good as they're made out to be and we certainly underestimated the amount of effort you need to put in. We were told that once the water in the tank gets up to 90 degrees then that would give us 3-5 days water but we have never yet managed to get our tank above 74 degrees.

I work from home and we have our own woodland and so its not the end of the world constantly having to refuel but in case others are considering log gasification biomass it's worth pointing out.

The RHI system is stupid too. The engineers calculated that our house requires 55,000 kWh of energy to provide heat and hot water. You have to pay for a green deal assessment even if you have no intention of taking out a green deal loan and that gave the same calculation to within a couple of hundred kWh but then the payments are calculated on the basis of an EPC (which you also have to pay for) and which assumes an "average family" lives in the house. Apparently an average family only has one child and so they reduce the energy rating accordingly. Bit stupid when we have a seven bedroom six bathroom house and more than one child.

Hey ho, we should have researched it more before taking the plunge but I thought this update might help others. I strongly suspect our system will stay in for the seven years whilst we are getting the RHI payments but will then be taken out again which is a real shame and clearly not the point of the RHI system.

Similar problems turned out the "expert" installers had connected up the accumulator tank wrong and the water inside was not satisfying properly. So top and bottom of tank around 65 before and back up oil forever kicking in. Replumbed it so backup oil at top, central heating cold feed right at bottom. Now a lovely 85 at the top always and the bottom fluctuating as heat gets used and replenished. Best of all the oil trigger temperature is rarely hit. However we found this out ourselves and had to threaten with Hetas and other bodies before the firm would do anything. The actual tank manufacturer sent us a diagram in the end that made the fitters refit. They were not happy and said that any changes they made were at our own risk, but... all works lovely now, we are confident our research was right just a life worried at the level of ignorance in supposed experts as to not that complex physics/ engineering.

Argh satisfying = stratifying