Pellet Stove Installer Required

[Hackney Marshes]

Hi,

Does anyone know of an authorised pellet stove installer in Cambridgeshire or Norfolk, Suffolk - we are just off Ely. We have the stove but need someone qualified to install it so as not to void the warranty. With winter closing in, help would be appreciated. Many thanks!
 

[Machpoint005]

Don't know if you meant on a boat or in a house, but HETAS is your starting point.

 

https://www.hetas.co.uk/

 

[Hackney Marshes]

Thanks for that, we need it for a boat. Hence, there are issues with finding someone qualified. We went through the HETAS list without success so suggestions would be very helpful. If you know of someone, please let us know. 
 

[Sea Dog]

My daughter's home has bio mass pellet type heating. Not the densest of fuels - the shear volume must surely be a prohibitive issue on a boat? 

[David Mack]

6 hours ago, Hackney Marshes said:

Hi,

Does anyone know of an authorised pellet stove installer in Cambridgeshire or Norfolk, Suffolk - we are just off Ely. We have the stove but need someone qualified to install it so as not to void the warranty. With winter closing in, help would be appreciated. Many thanks!
 

Have you checked with the stove manufacturer? They may well not approve installation in boats, in which case you will have no warranty to worry about anyway. Or they may be able to recommend an installer.

[jonathanA]

that was my thinking, installing on a boat more than likely invalidates the warranty so i wouldn't be looking for some numpty with an irrelevant qualification to come and do a lot of teeth sucking and charge like a rhino- just get on with it... (making sure it complies with BSS regarding ventilation) 

 

agree with David worth checking with manufacturer and then you will know where you stand on warranty and they may well be able to recommend an installer if thats a warranty condition. 

[mrsmelly]

1 hour ago, Sea Dog said:

My daughter's home has bio mass pellet type heating. Not the densest of fuels - the shear volume must surely be a prohibitive issue on a boat? 

My local pub has just removed their 3 year old system and installed oil. Also a ginormous hopper that fed the boiler.

I mean ginormous.

[magnetman]

I don't understand how one would be able to store enough fuel in dry conditions to make one of these things work on a boat unless it was a really big boat. 

 

Is there some sort of marketing saying its the best thing since sliced bread? 

 

Seems like agro to me but have not looked into it all that closely. 

 

For boats its coal, wood or oil or all three if you want a bit of luxury. 

 

 

 

 

[blackrose]

2 hours ago, David Mack said:

Have you checked with the stove manufacturer? They may well not approve installation in boats, in which case you will have no warranty to worry about anyway. Or they may be able to recommend an installer.

 

That's just what I was thinking. Many solid fuel stoves aren't approved for boats so it could well be the same.

[Hackney Marshes]

Thanks for your answers everyone. We've checked with the retailer but not the manufacturer - excellent suggestion, we'll do it tomorrow. 

 

You may be right in saying that they will not approve the boat installation, in which case we will have to decide, though we're likely to crack on with it. 

 

The stove itself is small 47x28x88cm (Artel Linea Mini) and we're choosing it for three reasons: (1) the environment, (2) programmability (3) ease of use. It has a 10kg tank capacity and can be programmed to switch on and off depending on the ambient temp. We're on residential mooring and storage is no different to coal: all bagged up and sitting in a dry area. 

 

We'll keep checking here for the next several weeks, so if anyone knows an installer, please give us a shout. 

 

Once again, thanks for your help everyone. Appreciated. 

[David Mack]

9 hours ago, Hackney Marshes said:

It has a 10kg tank capacity and can be programmed to switch on and off depending on the ambient temp. We're on residential mooring and storage is no different to coal: all bagged up and sitting in a dry area. 

But my understanding is that the calorific value of wood pellets is much lower than that or coal or smokeless fuel, so a given volume of storage will represent much less energy. Or in other words you will be refilling the boiler hopper frequently and will get through your bagged fuel much quicker. So more handling work and more chance of running out of fuel if a delivery is delayed.

[tree monkey]

13 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

My daughter's home has bio mass pellet type heating. Not the densest of fuels - the shear volume must surely be a prohibitive issue on a boat? 

I have experience, fairly extensive,  of a pellet boiler and this would be one of the issues that would put me off installing one, I've currently stocked up for the winter and the amount of bags required would likely fill the inside of my boat, never mind the need to keep the pellets bone dry.

 

Pellets are also expensive particularly if buying in small quantities or at least appear to be expensive but as I have no experience of the costs of fuel oil it could just be my tight arse tendencies coming out

 

 

Don't get me wrong the boiler is simple to use and clean compared to fuel oil and I like it a lot

 

 

11 hours ago, mrsmelly said:

My local pub has just removed their 3 year old system and installed oil. Also a ginormous hopper that fed the boiler.

I mean ginormous.

I'm curious, why did they remove it?

[mrsmelly]

9 minutes ago, tree monkey said:

I have experience, fairly extensive,  of a pellet boiler and this would be one of the issues that would put me off installing one, I've currently stocked up for the winter and the amount of bags required would likely fill the inside of my boat, never mind the need to keep the pellets bone dry.

 

Pellets are also expensive particularly if buying in small quantities or at least appear to be expensive but as I have no experience of the costs of fuel oil it could just be my tight arse tendencies coming out

 

 

Don't get me wrong the boiler is simple to use and clean compared to fuel oil and I like it a lot

 

 

I'm curious, why did they remove it?

It was removed because even though it worked well and even at todays oil costs the cost to run it was extortionate and oil works out a LOT cheaper 😩 The full story is that around 4 years ago the local government were offering businesses such as my local pub a free boiler " up grade " ( love that bullshit term ) if they fitted pellet burners, round here its ninety percent ish oil boilers. So as old boiler was knackered landlord took offer up. It quite simply is too expensive. As he still had his decent oil tank hes had a new oil boiler fitted now and in fact there was loads of pellets left which were burn in small amounts along with briquettes on the fire last winter. I understand the reasons behind it wanting to rid oil boilers but until a viable alternative is found people will burn oil, myself included.

[tree monkey]

2 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

It was removed because even though it worked well and even at todays oil costs the cost to run it was extortionate and oil works out a LOT cheaper 😩 The full story is that around 4 years ago the local government were offering businesses such as my local pub a free boiler " up grade " ( love that bullshit term ) if they fitted pellet burners, round here its ninety percent ish oil boilers. So as old boiler was knackered landlord took offer up. It quite simply is too expensive. As he still had his decent oil tank hes had a new oil boiler fitted now and in fact there was loads of pellets left which were burn in small amounts along with briquettes on the fire last winter. I understand the reasons behind it wanting to rid oil boilers but until a viable alternative is found people will burn oil, myself included.

I did wonder if cost was the issue, I much prefer the pellet boiler tbh the old oil burner was foul and regularly broke down, this pellet boiler just works and without the stink of diesel.

 

I am hoping if I stock up with pellets in the summer I can keep the cost reasonable

[Chewbacka]

11 hours ago, Hackney Marshes said:

……….. we're choosing it for three reasons: (1) the environment, (2) programmability (3) ease of use. It has a 10kg tank capacity and can be programmed to switch on and off depending on the ambient temp. We're on residential mooring and storage is no different to coal: all bagged up and sitting in a dry area. 

. …..

Nothing environmentally friendly about burning wood pellets.  Read about Drax if you want to know where the pellets come from, not to mention the amount of NOx and particles they discharge up the flue into your neighbourhood.  I burn coal, but I am fully aware that it’s dirty, but I don’t think much worse than pellets.  Coal is better for boats.

[mrsmelly]

4 minutes ago, tree monkey said:

I did wonder if cost was the issue, I much prefer the pellet boiler tbh the old oil burner was foul and regularly broke down, this pellet boiler just works and without the stink of diesel.

 

I am hoping if I stock up with pellets in the summer I can keep the cost reasonable

Its sad but true that even though its cleaner to burn its simply cost. To be fair the very latest Bosch oil boilers such as what I forked out for are way better than stuff from a few years ago. The smell is tiny and as my boiler is outside its zero in the house, even outside near the vent its barely noticeable. Next door has an oil boiler that I sometimes smell that is many years old. The cost to install and run a heat pump to include the necessary cocoon work to the house would be around fourteen billion pounds so was discounted.

[tree monkey]

2 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

It was removed because even though it worked well and even at todays oil costs the cost to run it was extortionate and oil works out a LOT cheaper 😩 The full story is that around 4 years ago the local government were offering businesses such as my local pub a free boiler " up grade " ( love that bullshit term ) if they fitted pellet burners, round here its ninety percent ish oil boilers. So as old boiler was knackered landlord took offer up. It quite simply is too expensive. As he still had his decent oil tank hes had a new oil boiler fitted now and in fact there was loads of pellets left which were burn in small amounts along with briquettes on the fire last winter. I understand the reasons behind it wanting to rid oil boilers but until a viable alternative is found people will burn oil, myself included.

I did wonder if cost was the issue, I much prefer the pellet boiler tbh the old oil burner was foul and regularly broke down, this pellet boiler just works and without the stink of diesel.

 

I am hoping if I stock up with pellets in the summer I can keep the cost reasonable

[IanD]

42 minutes ago, Chewbacka said:

Nothing environmentally friendly about burning wood pellets.  Read about Drax if you want to know where the pellets come from, not to mention the amount of NOx and particles they discharge up the flue into your neighbourhood.  I burn coal, but I am fully aware that it’s dirty, but I don’t think much worse than pellets.  Coal is better for boats.

Do you mean coal or smokeless fuel?

 

Coal is probably the worst possible fuel from the point of view of pollution/emissions (all types). Smokeless fuel is much better for smoke/pollution, how much better it is for CO2 depends on what it's made from.

 

Wood pellets are better for pollution, how good they are for overall emissions is disputed because it all depends on where the wood comes from and how it's processed/transported. Still probably better than burning other fossil fuels (diesel, gas) but obviously not as good as renewables (solar, wind).

Edited September 14, 2023 by IanD

[Machpoint005]

It's always worrying when someone claims 'X' to be better than 'Y'. Relatively few people have the background knowledge to ask "on what basis?" or to recognise that these are hardly ever black-and-white questions. 

 

 

 

 

"Nothing environmentally friendly about burning wood pellets" is a good example.

 

 

[magnetman]

It is the storage that would bother me. They need to be dry as in really dry. 

 

Not just under a tarpaulin they need to be in actual dry storage as they do soak up atmospheric moisture if the bag is not perfectly sealed. 

 

Maybe the bags are durable and completely sealed.

 

I haven't used them but they seem a bit similar thing to the briquetted sawdust type fuels which do burn well. 

 

However if they are allowed to get even a tiny bit damp they turn into porridge. 

 

 

[Mike Hurley]

I have one in one of my apartments, 12kw rating, eats a 15kg bag of pellets a day easy, still get dust when filling the hopper and emptying ashes, looks nice and smells nice too. If you get a power outage the boat will get smokey in an instant.

Edited September 14, 2023 by Mike Hurley

[Onewheeler]

I had a quote for a domestic installation a few years ago. Although the boiler was fairly cheap, the installation would have occupied most of the garage. Since then the cost of pellets has gone up greatly. We've still got our oil boiler and struggling to find a realistic alternative.

[magnetman]

The requirement for constant power seems to make these quite dangerous. 

 

Someone earlier mentioned if the power goes orf the boat fills with smoke. 

 

This is not ideal but I can see how timer and thermostat operation could be quite cool. 

 

I wouldn't touch one with a largepole but I am a natural draught flue man. 

 

 

[Chewbacka]

6 hours ago, Machpoint005 said:

It's always worrying when someone claims 'X' to be better than 'Y'. Relatively few people have the background knowledge to ask "on what basis?" or to recognise that these are hardly ever black-and-white questions. 

 

 

 

 

"Nothing environmentally friendly about burning wood pellets" is a good example.

 

 

So what is environmentally friendly about burning wood pellets?

CO emissions - not good

CO2 emissions- not good

pm2.5 emissions- not good

 

[magnetman]

I wonder if the producer or supplier is obliged to say where the wood comes from. 

 

The Drax power station thing is a little shocking. If this stuff comes from Canadian forests then I don't see how anyone in their right mind can class it as environmentally friendly. Maybe it comes from sustainably managed willow plantations in Warwickshire.