subject: Biomass Explained [print this page] The term wood burner is generic and there are a large number of options to consider if you feel that this might be appropriate for your home. Firstly, the key question is do you want heating only or heating and hot water? This will help decide whether you need a Wood Burning Stove or a Boiler a boiler has the ability to heat water as well as simply heat a space. If you have a central heating system that requires hot water you will need a wood boiler to create this hot water.
Next you need to determine what kind of fuel that you will burn in your stove or boiler. For a stove this tends to be wood logs, but there are multi fuel stoves that can burn a variety of fuels, including wood pellets and wood pellets. Availability of a reliable and affordable supply will have a strong influence here. For boilers, more so for stoves typically, your life style will play a part in the choice of fuel and design of burner. Some wood pellet boilers have hoppers that can automatically load the boiler so that it can fire up automatically, in a similar way to a gas or oil boiler. Alternatively there are more manual wood burners for the more active person where you load and light the boiler as and when it is required. Opting for a Wood Pellet Boiler means that it is easier to handle the fuel and automate the boiler. Pellets can be bought in sacks and they can be shovelled around, where as logs can be harder to handle although typically more readily available.
You should ensure that you have space to fit the boiler and also to store the wood or fuel that you need. Ideally this should be close to where the boiler is so that you dont have to carry it too far. The ease of handling the fuel is an important consideration and one of the reasons that wood pellet boilers are becoming popular. Another important aspect of biomass based home heating solutions is that they do require more day to day maintenance than an equivalent gas or oil boiler; you will have to regularly remove the ash from the burners from time to time. This is true for wood stove and pellet boilers, however the amount will depend on the design of the system and the fuel being burnt. Biomass boilers qualify for the Renewable Heat Premium Payment which pays a grant of 950 and also will qualify for the Renewable Heat Incentive when it comes in to force next year, paying you per unit of heat that you generate.
