What will replace gas boilers in our homes?

[2112]

Gas prices to rise by 19% just announced by British Gas and this is surely going to rise again yet when I talk to my friends and colleagues there seems to be a complete lack of interest in doing anything about it.

I would say now is the time to be looking at starting up in an alternative.

My guess would be wood pellet or wood chip boilers but I have yet to find one that could directly replace a wall mounted gas boiler.

Anyone thinking on same lines? know a manufacturer I can contact, any pitfalls you can think off?

[drbubb]

.

 

TYPES of Wood Fuel:

- Logs used on open fires, stoves and manually fed boilers.

- Woodchip mainly used where there is a heat demand in excess of 30 to 50Kwh.

- Pellets used in specially designed pellet stoves or boilers.

 

ADVANTAGES of Wood Pellets

- Standard Fuel

- Manufactured from waste products such as sawdust.

- No chemical additives needed.

- Low moisture content (6 -10%).

- High density, and Consistent size (usually 6 or 8mm).

- Can be used in automatic clean burn appliances.

- Now being manufactured in the UK.

 

 

Pellets are great in some locations. But they need a distribution system for the bags, and installation of new boilers. I reckon that it will be hard to beat gas pipes and electric wires in most locations. Also, if wood chip and pellet boilers were installed across the nation, demand would rise, and so would prices for pellets. Meantime, the rise in gas prices, will increase the number of locations where they can compete.

 

Time to buy forests maybe? British forestry prices languished for years.

 

- -

 

Following are some of the successful companies in the sector:

 

+ Bical............... : http://www.bical.net/index.php?id=189

+ BioRenewables : http://www.bio-renewables.co.uk/home/

+ Bronzeoak...... : http://www.bronzeoak.com

+ Exus Energy.... : http://www.exusenergy.com

+ UK Biofuels Ltd.:

+ Wessex Biofuels: http://www.wessexgrain.co.uk

+ Wood Power.....: http://www.woodenergyltd.co.uk

 

The Trade Associations / Online Info sources:

+ British Pellet Club (BPC): http://www.british-pellet-club.org.uk

+ Logpile / Nat'l Energy Fd: http://www.nef.org.uk/logpile/

+ Logpile / NEF Links........: http://www.nef.org.uk/logpile/links.htm

+ Lumber &BldgM Daily....: http://www.lbmdaily.com/index.cfm?path=/ne...rtid=7461|cat=6

[2112]

Thanks Dr B. I shall follow the links I didn't already have.

 

I have found a number of efficient stoves or floor mounted units. I was looking for a direct replacement for the average (wall mounted) gas boiler.

 

Pellet availablity is patchy - nearest stockist to Leeds I can find at the moment is Durham, hence my interest in it as a possible source of development.

[drbubb]

I collected the links, because I was looking into a possible investment in a wood chip company.

It never happened, because I felt the business was not sufficiently developed

 

I am intrigued with the idea of investing in such a business in an area with lots of forests:

such as Estonia or Wales

[SarahBell]

Isn't a woodland's income tax free?

I'm sure I've read that.

 

You have to remember if you don't just take wood (which needs seasoning for two years) fresh from the forest but also offcuts from industry you get more supply...

 

So if you found a place which did lots of wood manufacture you'd have more than enough to deal with...

 

http://www.woodlands.co.uk/

If you wanna buy a wood.

 

 

A biomass CHP thing would be great.

 

However you'd need lots of localised places providing the chips. Much in the same way I imagine it used to be in the old days when you had to have coal delivered.

[drbubb]

The problem is ...

Because of the tax advantages, UK forests tend to be overpriced.

 

Another way to invest is thru Highland Timber (HTB.L), a UK-quoted company,

which trades at a discount to its NAV

[malco]

I am sceptical that wood is a desirable urban heating fuel. This is a rather long report about wood stove use in Australia:

 

http://www.deh.gov.au/atmosphere/airqualit...4/chapter2.html

 

Don't even think of reading the whole thing, the summary is interesting though:

 

2.10 Summary - Australia

The review of Australian literature on firewood use, ambient wood-smoke concentrations, and wood-smoke emission factors shows:

 

about 1.5 million Australian households use firewood;

the residential sector burns about 4 million tonnes of firewood per year;

firewood use appears to have peaked in about 1992 and is slowly decreasing, but only by around 10 000 tonnes per year;

firewood supply is based mainly on clearing of private land; it is not sustainable and is likely to be causing some ecological damage; better integration with conventional forestry and firewood plantations are required;

the current generation of woodheaters must be certified to meet the emission factor limit of 4 g/kg when tested in accordance with AS/NZS4013;

even with certified woodheaters, incorrect heater operation can lead to high emissions, education campaigns to inform households of correct operation do not appear to have been very successful;

wood-smoke is contributing to decreased air quality in many urban centres and country towns; in some cities, such as Launceston, Tasmania and Armidale, NSW, wood-smoke is considered the main reason particulate goals (50 mg/m3 of PM10) are not being achieved in winter months;

all Australian states and territories have introduced legislation, or have legislation planned, to address urban wood-smoke problems;

chemical testing of ambient air with high levels of wood-smoke has identified a range of air toxic compounds similar to those associated with wood-smoke emissions in overseas research; and

the current emission testing research will better define the toxic compounds associated with wood-smoke in Australia.

 

Of course, pollution is a major problem. We'd be back to the pre-gas era of filthy towns polluted by household fires. And where is the wood going to come from? Britain is not exactly heavily endowed with remaining natural woodland. A few parts of the country are sparsely populated and wooded, but this only accounts for a small %age of the population. Likely we would have to import it - and we already have a problem with increasing fuel imports. Countries like Finland and Norway are well placed for this, but I doubt it will suit the UK.

[brooki]

Gas prices to rise by 19% just announced by British Gas and this is surely going to rise again yet when I talk to my friends and colleagues there seems to be a complete lack of interest in doing anything about it.

I would say now is the time to be looking at starting up in an alternative.

My guess would be wood pellet or wood chip boilers but I have yet to find one that could directly replace a wall mounted gas boiler.

Anyone thinking on same lines? know a manufacturer I can contact, any pitfalls you can think off?

 

I had an idea the other day, that maybe a gas boiler could be replaced by some sort of high power electricity powered microwave boiler unit, maybe using several domestic microwave oven type emitters to heat the water in the closed CH circuit. Obviously a few big design hoops to jump through, though. CH pump and control circuitry could be the same. It would probably take longer for water to come up to temperature, than using gas, and the unit would need good screening, but feasibly might be a more efficient way of heating water, (as I believe that boiling water for a cup of tea in the microwave uses less energy than boiling the same amount of water in a kettle).

 

I couldn't find any web references, and presume there's all sorts of technical reasons why this would be a non-starter. I'd guess that enough energy couldn't be transferred to a large mass of water quickly enough to make it viable without using dangerously powerful emitters. Anyone with a tech background able to comment on the practicalities, or otherwise?

 

TLM

[drbubb]

Pellets may be easier to burbn, and less polluting