Biomass Boilers

About

For certified installers we recommend HETAS

Biomass boilers, also called wood-fuelled boilers, burn wood to generate heat. Unlike a wood-fuelled stove, a biomass boiler connects to the radiators and a hot water cylinder to provide your entire home with heating and hot water.

Some systems will require manually feeding the boiler with fuel, or that you sweep them regularly to remove ash build up. Some systems will have automatic feeders and cleaners, but you should check any other additional maintenance schedules to follow.

When considering if a wood-fuel boiler is right for you, here are some other questions you might want to ask yourself, or an installer:

• Do I have the space?

A wood-fuel boiler requires much more space than the more typical gas or oil boiler. The boiler itself might be around the size of an American style fridge-freezer, and you will need space to store your fuel. This store will need to be handy for deliveries as well as for feeding the boiler. You can buy pellets and logs by the bag or pallet, but ideally, you would have a larger space like a shed or garage to store more. Pellets are supplied dry, and logwood may be supplied wet or dry. Wet logs will need to be seasoned (left to dry) for at least a year before being burnt, wet fuel can emit twice as much smoke than seasoned wood.

• Do I live in a clean air zone?

Domestic burning through wood burning stoves and coal fires now makes up the single largest contributor to the UK’s national emissions of particulate matter (PM). These tiny particles in smoke can be damaging to our health.

Any boiler or stove installed in a clean air zone must be an approved high efficiency low emission model, and burn only approved seasoned logs with low moisture content. But, it’s really important that in any wood-fuelled system you use, you burn only seasoned/dry wood, and avoid burning waste materials, or any scrap or wet wood.

• Do I need permission?

Wood-fuel heating systems must comply with building regulations, and the best way to check is to ensure to use an installer who is a member of a competent person scheme. Energy Saving Trust recommends speaking with HETAS.

These products represent the best performing models in their category. Our Selection Criteria details the minimum standards the products must meet in order to display on our site, including further information about efficiency.

For more information about biomass boilers, or other renewable systems and energy efficiency advice, please see Energy Saving Trust website.