Pellet stoves – what are the benefits
The majority of people in the UK have never seen a pellet burner and most likely have never even heard of them.
Having heated my home for the last 15 years with a pellet boiler stove I understand the pros and cons of this type of system and have seen the way they have developed and improved through the years.
Pellet stoves with or without a Boiler
There is a big difference between a boiler stove; used to power a complete central heating system, and a room heater which is primarily used to heat a single open space. Whilst I have been happy using and selling boiler stoves for the last 15 years, as an alternative to oil and LPG powered boilers, I was never keen to sell the dry room heaters without the boiler. The boilers are a good alternative to oil and gas and can be sited in a plantroom, utility or even a kitchen or hallway. The old technology of pellet burners were quite noisy and had an ‘aggressive ‘ flame which was not something that I would want in my living room/lounge.
Gasification
MCZ have been at the forefront of developing pellet burners and their latest gasification pellet burners set them ahead of the competition. This new generation of Gasification Pellet Burners enables a vastly improved flame picture and has made huge improvements in its efficiency achieving 40% more efficiency than the most stringent European requirements. Gasification is a process that converts the solid fuel into a combustible gas known as ‘Syngas’ by heating at high temperatures in a depleted oxygen environment.
Advantages of the new gasification pellet burners by MCZ
They are quiet, offer a big lazy flame, are efficient to run, can be controlled remotely from an app on your phone and have the ability to heat either small rooms or large open plan spaces. Some models have the option for ducted air so they can heat additional rooms either above or adjacent to the room that the burner is sited in.
Many people convert old properties by adding an extension and making a large open plan kitchen/ living / dining room. With this style of alteration, which is likely to include large glazed doors which can open to the garden or patio, it most popular to include Underfloor heating. UFH is an efficient way of heating large open areas but has one major limitation and that is it has a slow response time. If your patio doors are south facing then this can cause a problem. If the sun has not yet risen and the temperature outside is cold then the open plan room will be warm from the UFH. The problem comes when the sun rises and there is solar gain. As sunshine streams through the patio doors the UFH does not cool down quickly and the room becomes too hot.
Due to the controllability of a pellet burner they can be used either with or without an under floor heating system.
An open plan living space is an ideal environment for one of the mew MCZ gasification pellet burners. The pellet burners are most suitable in a free standing environment to be fitted with a twin wall flue. There are models with a rear exiting flue and some also have a top exit. Unlike a wood burning stove which should be run on a 6″ flue (even though many fitters these days will fit a 5″ID) the pellet burners have an exiting flue of 80/100mm and increase to 125mm (5″) flue making them neater and easier to install in many situations.
