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Log Burning CH

powerdesal

By powerdesal
in House Renovations

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powerdesal Newbie

powerdesal

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I've been continuing the research on log burning CH boilers. Has anyone any first hand experience of 'Vigas' units?

The price doesn't seem tooooo ridiculous. Made in Poland as far as I can see and marketed in UK by Dunster Woodfuels.

Alternatively, has anyone got info about French equivalents.

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Gluestick Collaborator

Gluestick

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Steve: I haven't forgotten our earlier thread on this and associated topics.

I am still awaiting my chum with the barn conversion in Wales (with the underfloor heating system driven by a geothermal heat pump) to provide a "Clean" electricity cost. Last time we exchanged emails, he was still carrying out works and contractor's equipment would impact on a clean reading.

Also still looking into pellets and etc.

 

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powerdesal Newbie

powerdesal

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  Gluestick,

Yes, the search goes on. I'm not too enamoured by the pellet units until such time as pellets are widely available in France. One of the VIGAS units seemed to have a multifuel capability which may be a plus.

Their fan assisted, 'Moderator' units are even cheaper,   it could be quite topical to consider "setting fire to the moderator" ( sorry Mods, I'm only joking - I think!!!!!)   [:D]

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cooperlola Newbie

cooperlola

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Depends which model you have, mine was a Severn and we reckoned 12 - 15" was optimum (sorry about the old money) but they do bigger ones.  Lovely because you have a woodburner to sit round and it's heating the water and radiators at the same time.  However, I've done a quick "google" and see they're now marketed as Agas and I can't seem to find those of the central heating variety.  Shame.  Wouldn't surprise me at all though if you couldn't find one on e-bay - they're so robust they last for years and years (25 and still going strong when we left the UK!) Anyway, the same principals apply.  The biggest difficulty was keeping it "in" overnight so we tended to burn some smokeless fuel along with mature logs.  It was not cheap to run though and our heating bills (for a similar sized house) have gone down by about 30% now we're on electric here!
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powerdesal Newbie

powerdesal

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Maybe its time to do a reassessment about the heating method based on your comment about being on leccy and cheaper. Unfortunately I have already installed a fair amount of the wet system pipework and rads. Maybe a wet system from an electrical boiler ?????. Thinking cap time again. Have you got any up to date costs and thoughts Coop ?

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bixy Newbie

bixy

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Powerdesal, have a look at http://www.selfclimat.com/Morvan/Morvan.htm. They will send you literature. Several of their boilers are multi-fuel. Don't forget about the 50% refund from the government [allowable against tax].

Patrick

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Wozza Newbie

Wozza

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[quote user="powerdesal"]
Alternatively, has anyone got info about French equivalents.
[/quote]

My neighbour runs a woodburning boiler for his CH and water in the winter (uses an electric water heater when CH no longer required) - he is very happy with it and reckons that if you have a good cheap source of logs, it is the cheapest way to heat your house. He has such a source, I don't!

If you want, I will ask him tomorrow the make and model of the unit and any other info you want. It does take the half metre logs. He runs it àn oak and chestnut, but mainly chestnut, as he tells me that this burns more evenly in the burner than oak.

Warren

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Chris Head Newbie

Chris Head

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Godin here, I think it's 22kw, at the moment we've only got 4 rads running off it but it's really good. Our insulation is bad so we probably go through more wood than necessary. The problem is keeping it in at night. I don't pay for timber either so we have the luxury of not worrying about fuel consumption.

Water is electrically heated.

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cooperlola Newbie

cooperlola

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Arnie here.

In the UK our Coalbrookdale Severn multi-fuel stove ran 5 rads on two floors and heated the water.  For around 5 months of the year, we had a monthly anthracite delivery at about £60 a go.  Our electricity direct debit came to £85 a month when we left the UK.  We were then working and were out of the house for about 12 hours a day.  As a result, we lit the boiler when we got home as it was a problem to keep in for that length of time.  Therefore, our electricity bill also included a 3kw storage heater in the sitting room which we installed so we would be greeted by a bit of background warmth when we got back.  We also had to use immersion heating for the water in the summer, although we got round this by having an electric shower and using cold fill on a dishwasher and washing machine so didn't need to use that much.  We used logs only in the spring and autumn to take the chill of the evenings.  It's hard to estimate how many we got through a year but we would have one or two £100 deliveries a year.

Here we run 5 electric radiators and electric hot water tank.  Plus we are at home 24/7 as we don't work.  Our electricity direct debit is 130 euros a month, all included.  Our only extra is a wood-burning stove in the sitting room which we use as an extra-comfort add-on but it isn't really needed to heat the house - just adds a warm glow.  I have no idea how much wood we use as we have not had to buy any yet.

Our stove spec' here

http://www.chaseheating.co.uk/severn.html

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chris pp Newbie

chris pp

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I'm currently installing a "Villager", for a client on a renovation, with 5 radiators and a towel rail and it will be interesting to see how it turns out. In the UK we had a Severn, which heated the entire house, but we had to use smokeless fuel so there's little point comparing the cost of using it to the cost of wood in France, which is very cheap and easily available usually, dependant on your region.

Chris

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powerdesal Newbie

powerdesal

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[quote user="cooperlola"]

Arnie here.

In the UK our Coalbrookdale Severn multi-fuel stove ran 5 rads on two floors and heated the water.  For around 5 months of the year, we had a monthly anthracite delivery at about £60 a go.  Our electricity direct debit came to £85 a month when we left the UK.  We were then working and were out of the house for about 12 hours a day.  As a result, we lit the boiler when we got home as it was a problem to keep in for that length of time.  Therefore, our electricity bill also included a 3kw storage heater in the sitting room which we installed so we would be greeted by a bit of background warmth when we got back.  We also had to use immersion heating for the water in the summer, although we got round this by having an electric shower and using cold fill on a dishwasher and washing machine so didn't need to use that much.  We used logs only in the spring and autumn to take the chill of the evenings.  It's hard to estimate how many we got through a year but we would have one or two £100 deliveries a year.

Here we run 5 electric radiators and electric hot water tank.  Plus we are at home 24/7 as we don't work.  Our electricity direct debit is 130 euros a month, all included.  Our only extra is a wood-burning stove in the sitting room which we use as an extra-comfort add-on but it isn't really needed to heat the house - just adds a warm glow.  I have no idea how much wood we use as we have not had to buy any yet.

Our stove spec' here

http://www.chaseheating.co.uk/severn.html

[/quote]

Thanks Coop,

The Severn is not really what I am looking for, we have a focal point woodburner in the sitting room but I am really thinking of a dedicated wood fired boiler to drive the rads and DHW. We cook on GPL and do not really want to go the CH/Cooker route as that means having an alternative cooker for summer, the kitchen just isn't big enough for two cookers.

The boiler will be fitted in the boot room which is just inside the back door and is not really useable as an alternative kitchen for cooking.

There seem to be a number of domestic sized log burning gasification technology boilers about but non are reasonably priced and none seem to be easily available in UK/France, save the Vigas which does seem to be a useful piece of kit. I will have to contact Poland direct and see what the import situation is, they are EU after all!!!!!!

I would have thought the Scandinavian countries might have something but I have not had any internet success - yet.

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