Burning logs – is it really viable?
Wood Burning Handbook- an insight by the California Environmental Protection Agency
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Greenflame Technology have supplied and installed wood pellet central heating systems to the domestic market for four years. Due to early day customer concerns about the emergence and viability of wood pellets, Greenflame used to provide a hybrid boiler also capable of burning logs. The resulting performance of the system was somewhat compromised and this was mainly due to the many issues surrounding logs and their high moisture content.
The question was asked of every customer in this situation – “what was the best way forward for them?” They all then chose to have a fully automatic wood pellet system – with no log ability. The reason for this was quite simple, every customer initially thought that they could save money by burning logs, however, in reality it cost them much more and they became a slave to their heating boiler… Never mind the endless stacking of logs, trying to dry them, carrying them, cleaning of the boiler and toxic smoke... Fortunately, all of the affected customers received an upgrade to our automatic Danish wood pellet system.
The result is clear and self evident - every customer now has reliable, automatic clean heating at approximately one third less cost than heating by oil. Of course an additional benefit, still to come, is the likelihood of each customer also receiving a lump sum payment every year for the next 10 to 20 years from the government Renewable Heat Incentive (still being finalised). Currently, all domestic households (Scotland) can also claim a 30% rebate for the system and installation costs as both the appliances and Greenflame are MCS registered for granting approval
(for further information see www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/scotland).
Varying grants are also offered to England and Wales www.energysavingtrust.org.uk.
With such serious winter conditions and high energy costs, the selection of a practical and efficient heating source is important to every household. Greenflame have now introduced the top of the range traditional cast iron stoves which run on wood pellets. These stoves are voted the number one pellet stove appliance. They have automatic ignition, fuel feed and temperature regulation. The statistics are impressive, with 0 up to 50,000 btu (14.5kw) of controllable heat output and whisper silent fans to distribute the heat into your room. Some even have mirrored glass doors which become transparent when the real flame ignites. It is a new concept for customers to have a traditional styled cast iron stove with almost effortless work involved. It is now possible to set your stove to automatically ignite just before you get out of your bed on a cold winters morning – you don’t even need a long match.
The warmth of a wood pellet stove is all the more comforting in the knowledge that wood pellets are often half the running cost of logs, with a fraction of the moisture content (logs typically 20% to over 50% moisture). We all know people, who say that they have the “endless, life supply of free logs” but unfortunately they never acknowledge the considerable effort needed to get them home, split them, stack them, dry them for 1 to 2 years and then load them every couple of hours into the heating appliance. On the other hand, wood pellets are available nationwide in 10kg bags complete with a handle. The calorific value is a known fact, as is the moisture content (about 4%), therefore you know what you have paid for and what heat will be given. The much cleaner and consistent fuel means far less cleaning of the appliance. The Greenflame stoves will burn up to a tonne of pellets before you even need to empty the ash pan. The pellet appliance is at least 20% more efficient with your heat than a log stove – that is an extra 20% of heat into your room rather than up your flue. When you consider the much better cost for the fuel and also the higher efficiency, it is easy to see why the installation of a serious wood pellet heating appliance is not only a welcomed investment but also a vital asset to any home or business premises that needs heat.
