wood pellet burning domestic boilers

[Mr Mag00]

We are thinking of fitting one here at work alongside a log burning boiler, some other green energy saving and renewable energy technologies as a teaching resource and to save money on fuel.
I am interested in fitting one at home too, as our lpg boiler is due replacement and i think this may well be the way to go.
Is there anyone here with any experience of these?

[Elean0r]

We've got an ordinary log woodburner.

When we were looking at the options we looked at the ones that used pellets and thought we could be caught in a marketing situation where we'd only ever have one (expensive) supplier, so we chose to use logs instead.

[werdnal]

I tend to agree.

The pellets have to be made and delivered so they are not as green as sourcing your own wood. Some treesurgeons are only too pleased to give away wood as they have to pay to transport and dispose of it. We have got some locally from the railway when contractors have been thinning along the trackside. Then there are old pallets from industrial estates, which usually end up in skips!

We have just bought a 2nd hand woodburner with backboiler and sold our oil Rayburn last week. We are looking forward to a wood-fired winter this year!

[Meta menardi]

Do make sure your wood is dry, well seasoned and that you blast your flue on a regular basis with some really hot burns on the stove. Deposits can build very quickly in the flue and are very dangerous if they get burning, the tar can move through the flue lining and so on.

[Gill Catton]

There was one where my ;parents went on holiday recently and it was very good, it was almost ash-free so doesn't need the regular clearing out that a standard wood burner does, (and doesn't cause the extra dusting either). It is still cheaper than oil and the way its grown usually allows the development of a good weed (wildflower) flora on the ground providing good habitat for birds - yet its not cutting down massive old trees which are habitats in themselves...

In the world of green energy its not a bad option and certainly something I'd consider.

[ChrisJB]

We have had our wood burner for about four years now and it really is superb. We only use it from the first autumn frosts to say mid-April and using well seasoned wood, plus the occasional 'blast' with all the air vents open means we only sweep the chimney every couple of years.
The only faff is chopping logs up with a bow-saw, I think I could do with a small electric chainsaw. Log splitting with my 'here's Johnny' style axe though is most satisfying.

Regards, Chris