Wood Pellet Boilers
Features
The installation of wood pellet boilers has proven to be particularly popular in rural and suburban areas. A wood pellet boiler installation can be integrated into the existing oil or gas heating system in the home. Wood pellet boilers require a hopper to store the pellets and to ensure that they are kept dry. The size of the hopper will depend on the size of the boiler house or garage available. Where a boiler house or garage aren’t available, certain manufacturers provide pellet boiler and hopper models which can be installed outdoors. Others supply pellet storage tanks which can be buried outside; pellets can then be fed automatically, over a distance of up to 15 meters, directly into the pellet boiler in your home.
Pellet Boiler technology has made significant advances in recent years. Many pellet boilers models now feature fully automated fuel transport, ignition, burn control, cleaning and ash removal – leaving the homeowner with nothing to do but to empty the ash box a number times a year.
Wood Pellet Fuel
Wood Pellets are considered a "carbon neutral", source of renewable energy because the carbon dioxide emitted when the wood is burned has been taken out of the atmosphere by the growing plant.
Wood pellets are typically made from dry sawdust which is compressed into approximate lengths of 25mm and either 6mm or 8mm in diameter.
Grants of €3,000 available
Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI) is promoting the use of wood pellet boilers in the residential market via a range of grants available through the Greener Homes Scheme. This has contributed to a massive increase in demand in this sector in recent years, and it is expected that this trend will continue over the coming years.
Wood Pellet Supply
Wood pellets can be purchased in bulk (minimum 3 tonnes) or bagged (e.g. 20-50kg bags) form. For a new build home, a hopper with a 3 tonne capacity is now required by the SEI to avail of the grant.
From a cost perspective, based on heating oil prices during the latter half of 2007, wood pellet heating costs 35-40% less than the price of oil heating, particularly if the pellets are bought in bulk.
2 tonnes of wood pellets will cost around €440 while 1,000 litres of heating oil costs in the region of €680. Needless to say, this represents significant cost savings on annual home energy bills.
Enerfina's Wood Pellet Scheme
Enerfina have agreed preferential terms for our pellet fuel customers. Click here to learn more.
