Would You Benefit From a Pellet-Fuelled Biomass Boiler?

There are lots of different types of biomass boiler available. Because of the range of options, it can be hard to work out which sort of boiler is the best one for you.

A good way to start narrowing your choice down is to work out what fuel you want to use. You can then get a boiler that is compatible with your fuel choice.

The most common biomass fuels are wood pellets, wood chips and logs. When these are burned they produce heat, which your boiler uses to create hot water. Boilers that burn wood pellets are particularly popular with homeowners as they are compact and have high energy density.

To help you decide whether a pellet-fuelled boiler would suit you and your home, we’ve come up with a list of the fuel’s advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages

Compact

One advantage of wood pellets is that they’re compact. When pellets are made they are compressed, so you get the largest amount of fuel in the smallest possible space. This means that wood pellets take up less space than wood chips and logs – you can fit about 1 tonne of pellets into 1.5 square metres of space. So if you have limited storage or only have room for a small boiler, pellets may well be the fuel for you.

High energy density

Another benefit to wood pellets is that they have high energy density. This is measured in kWh/m³. The energy density of pellets is not as high as the energy density of wood chips. But wood pellets usually have a higher energy density than logs. So you will need to buy less pellets than logs to produce the same amount energy.

Compatible with automatic feeding systems

As wood pellets are all the same shape and size, they can be used with an automatic feeding system. This is known as a hopper. If you have a boiler with an automatic feeding system, you won’t need to worry about putting fuel into your boiler regularly. So if you choose to use pellets you can get a boiler with an automatic feeding system, which means all you’ll need to do to keep your boiler going is fill up the feeding system every so often.

Disadvantages

Not ideal for large systems

While wood pellets are great for smaller boilers, they’re not the best fuel you could use for a larger system (usually 60kW or over). For big installations it’s best to use wood chips as the boilers have plenty of fuel space and chips are more efficient than pellets. However, as most domestic biomass boiler installations are between 15-45kW, this may not be a problem for you.

If you decide that a pellet-fuelled biomass boiler is right for you, it’s a good idea to speak to a boiler engineer. They will be able to advise you on what type of boiler would be best for you and your home.