Alternative home heating...wood chip/wood gassification etc experience/advice?

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Alternative home heating...wood chip/wood gassification etc experience/advice?

17 posts & 8 voices | Started 3 months ago by Albanach | Latest reply from Albanach

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Albanach - Member

We are in the process of designing our house and I'm just starting to look at home heating. The plan is to have a peat/wood burning stove with a back boiler + solar panels together with some form of boiler. I would be very keen to move away from oil fired heating to something like a wood chip, wood gassification, air to water, ground source heat pump. I know very little so looking for any useful advice from users of the aforementioned systems or useful websites/forums.

I have a good bit of land to play with and will hopefully coppice wood in the future but that is relatively long term plan in terms of fuel source.

Posted 3 months ago #
wwaswas - Member

Stoner to the thread, Stoner to the thread!

Posted 3 months ago #
Albanach - Member

Was thinking that Stoner would be the first port of call!

Posted 3 months ago #
kitebikeski - Member

Most of the heroic failures in biomass heating/energy generation involve the word Gassification............., related to a desire to make the simple (torching a log) complicated

Posted 3 months ago #
amatuer - Member

Check out the following linkEnergy savings trust
Also speak to an architect who should be able to advise you. But be aware that a wood burner stove will mean all you're weekends are spent cutting and splitting logs ready for the week ahead.
Ground or air source heat pumps offer cheap long term heat sources, but I'd advise having a backup for periods of extremely cold weather. Solar panels (or photvoltaics) are best used on south facing roofs, otherwise loose their effectiveness. Think about underfloor heating as well, but you need consider where your hot water tank and manifold are for efficient heating.
Some grants are available for these systems and feed in tarrifs for PV systems are still under review.

Posted 3 months ago #
trb - Member

My parents are just into their 1st winter with a air source heat pump. It works well*. They've got some super dooper fan assisted radiators as well. You can hear the outside fan if you know what to listen for but only if you are trying. I reckon if you use PV cells to offset the 'lectrick you're on the a winner.

*It replaced a clapped out oil fired convection heating so any comparison would be meaningless.

Posted 3 months ago #
Albanach - Member

We're in Ireland so frequent the wife's uncle's peat bog during the summer to cut and foot the turf and draw it in so should get a years supply no bother, this can be supplemented by bought wood should we need it.

Solar panels (or photvoltaics) are best used on south facing roofs, otherwise loose their effectiveness.

Our house is on a south facing site and the plan would be to have the solar panels on the garage/workshop roof. I don't think there is a feed in tariff in Ireland.

Think about underfloor heating as well, but you need consider where your hot water tank and manifold are for efficient heating.

I am thinking about it given the open plan living space in the design. Plan would be to have the tank inside the main house while the boiler would be in a service room in the garage approximately 8 metres from house. I assume the manifold would be near the tank, would I be right?

Posted 3 months ago #
Stoner - Member

bit busy ATM, but happy to answer any qus you have by email or in here a bit later. In the meantime:

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/solar-water-thermal-panels-the-installation-w-pics

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/biomasssolar-eco-experts-advice-sought-stoner

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/i-got-wood

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/anyone-on-here-know-anything-about-thermal-stores

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/solar-water-heating#post-2528579

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/ground-source-heat-pumps-1

Posted 3 months ago #
rangeroy - Member

try this as alternative
http://www.itm-power.com/page/17/Hydrogen+Home.html

Posted 3 months ago #
Stoner - Member

Ive been following the ITM stuff for at least 6 years. Id love to create a hydrogen house with a hydrogen fuel generator driven by renewable energy sources and then hydrogen store in a big tank underground int he field to supply H2 off grid over winter...but I think Id need about oooo, £50-100k to do it

Posted 3 months ago #
rangeroy - Member

not if you know someone who works there!!?

Posted 3 months ago #
Stoner - Member

oooh please please please let rangeroy own the company and be my bestest friend and want a barn in worcestershire to use as a case study to install an entire hydrogen off grid system for freeeeeee!!! pleeeeeasassseeeeee!!!!!!!

Posted 3 months ago #
rangeroy - Member

sorry stoner, not even close but i do have contact within,slight hijack you got your tablet or 'delayed' email?
will keep itm in mind & pm if any 'news'

Posted 3 months ago #
MRanger156 - Member

Am I right in thinking you want a biomass boiler as a 'back burner' which would be pretty hard to get at? Would this not be a nightmare to clean/service? How are you getting your wood chip or pellets into the boiler?

Would you need a buffer vessel for your solar panels assuming they are for the hot water? Have you considered any plant space?

Ground source heat pumps are pretty expensive due to the civil work involved unless your digging the place up anyway.

Not sure how it effects domestic stuff but check out the renewable heat incentive.

Posted 3 months ago #
Stoner - Member

rangeroy - yep got the "delayed" email, and the offer of goodies (assuming youve ordered from gasdgetfreakz too?). Im relaxed so will sit it out till it arrives.

In 50yrs time, H2 houses fueled by renewable conversion will be the norm and I think it will be great.

Id love to see someone develop a solid state H2 storage medium that eliminates explosion risk though.

Posted 3 months ago #
Stoner - Member

MRanger - a "back boiler" is a boiler array at the back of a normal looking woodburner as you would have in your living room.

There are no moving parts within the boiler, just pipes. Cleaning the wood burner flue is no more difficult. It is advisable to link it up to your heat storage via a load charger though as it prevents early pumping of water through the boiler, potentially reducing flue temperature too much early in the burn and increasing tarring, it also prevents the boiler becoming a radiator in the summer through thermo-syphoning.

Posted 3 months ago #
Albanach - Member

Am I right in thinking you want a biomass boiler as a 'back burner' which would be pretty hard to get at? Would this not be a nightmare to clean/service? How are you getting your wood chip or pellets into the boiler?

Maybe its not clear but we are looking to have a biomass boiler + solar panels (for hot water) plus a wood/peat burning stove with a back boiler which could run a portion/all of the hot water and under floor heating. We have plant space in a shed approx 8 metres from back door which will have room for boiler and fuel storage.

We are digging the site anyway but the cost of the ground source is definitely off putting.

Posted 3 months ago #

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