Any Advice on Wood Pellet Boilers?

DeepDreamer on 18/03/2018 - 21:57
Last edited 19/03/2018 - 10:28 by 1 other user

I'm looking at heating options for our house. My current preference is a wood pellet heater, as it can do radiators in the bedrooms, and a fireplace in the living area. One heating system is cheaper than two.

1. Any practical advice, experience or reviews? Annual running costs, cleaning, servicing?

2. I'm looking to import from China an identical unit to one that is sold in Aus. I thing it'll save me 50% on the boiler itself (still need radiators and plumbing). Any general advice? The evidence is that the company has been manufacturing these units for seven years, and the local reseller here has been selling them for five. Down side is that there are no close up photos. The reseller has a model on display in another capital city, but going on a jaunt that far just to see one myself seems extreme, even for an OzB'er.

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  JimmyF on 18/03/2018 - 22:34

  I thought these looks amazing and simple to use as well.

  Annual running costs

  outrageous….. I looked into this a while ago, and WOW.

  So work out the burn rate per hour in KGs. This can be done a few ways, but one way is Hopper capacity in KG, divided by burn time.

  Take that number, and times this by 24, and thats your daily usage in KGs

  Price the pellets per kg/ton and be sitting down for your yearly cost.

  For example, looking at https://www.pftas.com.au//wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Nigbo-H…

  The smallest one burns between 1.6 and 2.7kg an hour. Lets go 2kgs/hr.

  Is about 4400kgs or 4.4 tons for 3 months usage.

  Can't seem to find any bulk pricing on pellets online, but they are $15/bag for 15kgs.

  So a good $4k, more if you need heating longer.

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    DeepDreamer on 18/03/2018 - 23:05

    Thanks JimmyF.

    You're assuming burning 24 hours a day there. I've never had a fireplace, but my understanding is that when you're not in the house, you turn down the flue to stop just keep the fire going.

    Also, it's thermostat-controlled. Once the water reaches the required temperature, the system shuts down until the water has cooled too much. Though, I admit if this is true, how can there be a max/min burn time. I'll have to check that out.

    With pellets, it should be even better, where it shuts down completely until the timer kicks in and ignites a fire. Some minutes later, the house starts to warm up.

    We're planning to use wall-mounted radiators, fed with water from the boiler. It would be a different story if this was underfloor, where you have a large thermal mass to keep warm.

    So I'm factoring maybe 1-2 hours in the morning to warm the house up, and 2-3 hours in the evening. Maybe that's optimistic, I dunno. At 4 hours a day, we're at 1/6th of your 4.4 tonnes.

    Finally, that same seller has this: https://www.pftas.com.au/products/pellet-fuel/

    They claim around $700/yr for pellet costs. "It shows that 66% of all customers purchased less than 1 ton, 24% between 1 and 2 tons, 9% between 2 and 3 tons and 1% 3 to 4 tons". Unless they're being outright deceptive, the costs are pretty reasonable.

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      JimmyF on 19/03/2018 - 09:33

      You're assuming burning 24 hours a day there. I've never had a fireplace

      Well… I've had a 'fireplace' as you call it (slow combustion heater as everyone else calls it) and they do burn 24x7 day.

      So I'm factoring maybe 1-2 hours in the morning to warm the house up, and 2-3 hours in the evening. Maybe that's optimistic

      VERY optimistic

      They claim around $700/yr for pellet costs. "It shows that 66% of all customers purchased less than 1 ton

      I think they might be telling porkies or those 66% people are not using these as the only heating of the house and just for show.

      Go google how long a ton of wood lasts in a slow combustion heater and see if people can get by on 1 ton of wood year.

      These pellet heaters are not magically, there is only so much heat in wood, regardless of its form.

      But it sounds like you have made your mind up already, so enjoy your pellet heater. Report back on its running cost in a year or two!

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  Diji1 on 19/03/2018 - 00:36

  +1

  It crazy that they allow these things in urban areas.

  Wood smoke kills people.

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    DeepDreamer on 19/03/2018 - 08:28

    +1

    Yes and no. A modern one, burning well-seasoned wood should be pretty clean. I'm thinking wood pellets should be even better, but I guess I have no evidence.

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    Euphemistic on 19/03/2018 - 08:34

    +1

    but it's probably significantly less dangerous than all the exhaust pipes passing your front door.

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  hummel on 19/03/2018 - 12:45

  A few things

  1) Don't import by yourself, it won't be worth it - What happens when something breaks? (They do)

  2) Where are you located? If you're a) not in tasmania/victoria and b) happy to wear a jumper I think 1T of pallets would do the job for a seasonal winter.

  These things are great when working well but just keep in mind servicing costs etc - They also don't compare to an actual wood heater in ambiance etc

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    JimmyF on 19/03/2018 - 12:49

    OP is in Canberra….. 1T of pallets isn't going to go far!

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      DeepDreamer on 20/03/2018 - 20:16

      I now think you're right. 2-3 tonnes a season is probably going to be more realistic :-(

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  JimmyF on 20/03/2018 - 22:47

  For those following along at home, the OP now trying to import one but got blocked…

  https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/367781

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  tessel on 20/11/2022 - 12:49

  Quick and dirty way to calculate running costs is to figure out how much 20kg of pellets cost, divide by 100 and that's the kw/h cost. Example. Here in Tas I can buy pellets for $8.50 for 15kg bag. That's about $11.33 for a 20kg bag and using that it costs about 11.33c per kw/h. Most heaters put out 3kw in low, so about 34c an hour. Unfortunately pellet prices out of Tasmania are very high, which makes them an expensive way to heat. The cheapest I've found is about $12 in Melbourne and those pellets are from Tasmania. https://www.tassiepelletheaterowners.com/where-to-buy-wood-p…