Wood pellet use

Wood pellets can be used to produce heat in a specially designed stove or boiler. In addition some existing solid fuel (wood, coal or oil) boilers or stoves, can be converted to make use of wood pellets. The process can be as simple as installing a pellet basket in an open fire - see under LINKS for suppliers.

Pellets are mostly manufactured from products from sawmills and other wood processing industries. The materials used are ground woodchips and sawdust. No chemical additives are needed, the natural lignin of the wood itself serving as a binder.

Premium grade wood pellets (such as Stovies ®) are UK manufactured pellets that are produce from pure wood with no contaminants, such as plywood or chipboard glues.

Premium grade pellets are produced in the UK under a voluntary Code of Practice. Other countries have their own standards for the production of wood pellets, some of them compulsory. It is anticipated that there will be a European wide standard for the production of wood pellets by 2008.

Due to their low moisture content (about 8% to 10%), pellets have a high energy content, similar to high quality coal.

Wood pellets can be used in automatic clean-burn heating appliances as they are manufactured to a consistent size (usually about 20 mm long with a diameter of 6 to 8mm for domestic heating), with low moisture content and high density. It also means that the boiler response time is fast and the technology is controllable without increasing the load on the environment.

This and the fact that they are clean and easy to handle make them particularly suitable for domestic use. Being compressed also means that they take up less room than other forms of wood fuel.

Pellets have the following advantages over other types of wood fuel:-

Lower volume to transport and store (due to higher energy density)
Fewer deliveries
Consistent size and moisture content
Versatility - can be used in stoves and boilers
Less ash and emissions
Are dry and can be stored without degrading
Flow like a liquid and can be used in automatic machinery
Easier to handle
Easier to ignite

Fuel Costs
It is always difficult to make comparisons between the cost of heating with different fuels, given that there are a number of different suppliers in the market, different tariffs for day and night time (electricity), different costs according to the quantity purchased (particularly for solid fuels such as logs and coal) etc. In addition, the efficiency of the heating system installed needs to be taken into consideration when calculating a more appropriate cost per useful kWh in pence, rather than per unit cost. Given the number of variables the prices given should be treated with caution, perhaps reflecting the relative costs of heating with each type of fuel as opposed to absolutes.

Relative Cost of Delivered Energy

Electricity	7-10p/kWh (1)
Heating Oil (in condensing boiler)	4.2p/kWh (2)
LPG (in condensing boiler)	4.7p/kWh (3)
Coal (anthracite grains)	3p/kWh (4)
Natural Gas	2.8p/kWh (5)
Logs in Stove	0 to 5.1p/kWh (6)
Wood Chip	1.5 to 2.1p/kWh (7)
Pellet	3.0p/kWh to 3.5p/kWh (8)

Notes
1. A wide range of heating costs with electricity due to the different tariffs are available. The lower end of the price range reflects the cost of heating using storage heaters utilising a night tariff.
2. Based on a heating oil price of 35p a litre in a boiler with an 85% efficiency. Unlike other fuels the cost of oil varies greatly over time (and by region).
3. Based on LPG at 30p a litre in a boiler with an efficiency of 85% .
4. Based on anthracite grains at £9.26 per 50Kg in a gravity fed boiler with 70% efficiency.
5. Based on natural gas at 2.4p/kWh in a boiler with an 85% efficiency.
6. Reflects the wide range in the cost of logs, from free to those who have access to their own wood to the cost of logs bought in individual bags. p/kWh is based on a 300kg load of logs delivered with a 30% moisture content bought at a cost of £45 in a stove with a 70% efficiency. Wood bought at £90 a tonne with the same water content would cost 2.7/kWh.
7. Based upon a local delivery cost, £45 a tonne (30% moisture) and £60 a tonne (25% moisture); calorific wood value 3500 kWh/t @ 30% MC and 3900kWh/t @ 25% MC.
8. 3p/kWh is based on pellets at £130 a tonne at 85% efficiency, a price that can be achieved for bulk orders. 3.5p/kWh is based on pellets at £175 tonne again at 85% efficiency.

Pellet Delivery
We deliver in sacks of 15kg on a pallet, in bags of 1000kg, or loose in bulk (in which case the pellets are blown into a silo directly from a lorry). Pellets can be collected by the customer in bulk or by the bag from the factory.