Of course, when we finally do get some great, hot weather in Scotland, the very last thing on our minds is planning how to stay warm next winter!
But as we all know, time really flies, and if you’re going to get a new system put into your home, it makes good sense to do it at a time when you don’t need a lot of heating. Waiting for autumn might be a bit of a risk, given our erratic weather!
Many more people are now looking at using wood pellet boilers to heat their homes. Although pellets have been around for a long time, it’s only fairly recently that the supply chain has become sufficiently well-established and reliable for the pelleted systems to really take off.
A wood pellet boiler, if hand-fed, usually has its hopper topped up weekly with 10kg bags of pellets. We offer delivery of up to a tonne at a time of 10kg bags, and also storage facilities for those who prefer to come and collect as and when they need it, yet still getting the cost advantage of co-operative bulk buying. The bags are clean and easy to handle.
Because the capital cost of installing a wood pellet boiler is relatively high, it’s only really an option if you expect to stay in your house for a good while to come. Grants are available through the RHI (Renewable Heat Incentive) and the most up-to-date information on this is available here. More and more housing associations are installing pellet boilers for their tenants but, as we’ve discovered, not all those tenants have been supplied with sufficient information about how and where to source their fuel or how to set up their systems to get the most value form them.
Low moisture content is always the bottom line with all wood fuels. Whether it’s logs, wood briquettes, wood chips (not recommended for most domestic situations) or wood pellets you’re using, it’s the moisture content that determines how much heat you get out of it, and also how well your boiler or stove and flue survive. Burning wet fuel can corrode metal, soot up the flue and blacken glass doors in a surprisingly short space of time, literally burning money through inefficiency and increasing the risk of chimney fires substantially.
