# Oil burner conversion to wood pellets



## bigbobs (Jul 19, 2009)

Has anybody ever removed there oil burner gun and replaced it with an auto feed wood pellet burner using their existing boiler?


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## pybyr (Jul 19, 2009)

No, but I tried to go in such a direction back around 2001-02 -- which would have used one of the Euro-type pellet burner heads on an existing furnace.  At the time, though, none of the Euro manufacturers of such burner heads would even consider selling a product to me in the US, despite my offer to sign agreements that I was on my own as to code approvals and liability.  Perhaps you could contact Maine Pellet Systems to see if you could buy one of their burner heads by itself.


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## twitch (Jul 20, 2009)

I'm not sure if I saw this link on the forum, or if the company is still around, but it's worth a look.  I think this is the kind of thing you are looking for.

http://www.pellergy.com/default.html


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## bigbobs (Jul 20, 2009)

twitch said:
			
		

> I'm not sure if I saw this link on the forum, or if the company is still around, but it's worth a look.  I think this is the kind of thing you are looking for.
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> http://www.pellergy.com/default.html




 Thanks, we did find that link and also searched this forum, but did not find if anybody had actually done an installation.


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## Hansson (Jul 20, 2009)

pybyr said:
			
		

> Perhaps you could contact Maine Pellet Systems to see if you could buy one of their burner heads by itself.



The Janfire burner that they have is very common here and have a good reputation.but i think it`s ltetle more expensive compare to other brands
Some more info here http://www.janfire.com/eng/index.htm


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## Sting (Jul 21, 2009)

Keep the oil boiler for a back up and install an under sized pellet boiler - call both to service on those one or two coldest nights,


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## Hansson (Jul 21, 2009)

Sting said:
			
		

> Keep the oil boiler for a back up and install an under sized pellet boiler - call both to service on those one or two coldest nights,



why? You can change back to the oil in a few minutes. 2 boilers wold have a massive heat loss.

I wonder why people in the US have so hard to give up the oil


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## Gooserider (Jul 21, 2009)

Hansson said:
			
		

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Depending on how they are plumbed, shouldn't be any extra heat loss w/ the second boiler - just set it up so that there is only flow through the one that's in use...

I'd also wonder if this would really work - pellets make some amount of ashes, while oil is essentially a zero-residue fuel, so how would one prevent ash from building up in the boiler heat exchanger and / or remove it readily if the boiler wasn't designed to deal with ashes in the first place?

Lastly, I think the switching over scenario isn't totally a viable concept - it's OK though not great if you are home, but what happens if you aren't and the pellet burner fails?  No heat...  OTOH, if you have two boilers, then you can set up a switchover - if the pellet burner quits, and the temps drop past a certain point, automatically fire the backup...

The ideal world might be to have a single boiler w/ dual fuel capability built in, except that in many (most?) cases I've seen, the design optimizes for best performance from one fuel, at the expense of the other, plus it brings you back to the single point of failure issue...  W/ dual boilers, you can optimize each for it's designed fuel, and eliminate the potential for a boiler leak cutting off all your heat...

Gooserider


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## Hansson (Jul 21, 2009)

You cant convert all oil boilers to pellets. The pellets burner must have some more room for the fire than a oil burner.
You also have to remove ash more frequently whit pellets.
For backup we only use electricity here. Burning oil is a big no no


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## Gooserider (Jul 21, 2009)

Hansson said:
			
		

> You cant convert all oil boilers to pellets. The pellets burner must have some more room for the fire than a oil burner.
> You also have to remove ash more frequently whit pellets.
> For backup we only use electricity here. Burning oil is a big no no



We mostly have the opposite situation here in the US...  Electricity is MUCH more expensive than oil in most areas, so for us, dino-burning is usually a better backup than electric.  Because of the extra wiring requirements for electric, it can be as much or more expensive than a dino-burner to install, and the operating expense is also much higher for electric.

Your comment about the different design requirements for oil and pellets are pretty much what I said earlier, and why I was saying that optimizing for one fuel will hurt you for the other, which is part of the reason for suggesting two boilers, each optimized for it's respective fuel...  

Gooserider


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## Sting (Jul 21, 2009)

Hansson said:
			
		

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OUCH!   My fingers got slapped for a lucid suggestion!

Funny how folks from Sweeeden are so quick to judge.


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## pybyr (Jul 22, 2009)

Sting said:
			
		

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I expect Hannson meant it in the spirit of sharing ideas and good humor. I'm glad to have Hannson in the Boiler Room-- how many of us could be and would be willing to join in a technically-detailed forum that was in another language that we weren't entirely familiar with.  I admire the way that the Scandanavian countries have really rolled up their sleeves and done some things with technologies such as biomass and heat storage.

[and by the way, Sting, I also appreciate the suggestions and experience that you and many others 'round here willingly share]


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## Ashley (Aug 3, 2009)

I used a Swedish Pellx 20 Kw in my Buderus G115 boiler last winter.  I put about 6 tons of pellets through it and managed to keep warm.  I found that I have to clean it about every 800 lbs of pellets, depending on the quality.


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## pybyr (Aug 3, 2009)

Ashley said:
			
		

> I used a Swedish Pellx 20 Kw in my Buderus G115 boiler last winter.  I put about 6 tons of pellets through it and managed to keep warm.  I found that I have to clean it about every 800 lbs of pellets, depending on the quality.



How did you get the Pellx?  I'd tried to get one back around 2002 but had no luck getting the company or a distributor to think of shipping one to the US.


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## Ashley (Aug 3, 2009)

A friend of mine in Old Town who has one knows a guy who is working with Pellx on an American version and had some 240 volt European ones available, for “testing”.  It’s a very slick rig. Well built and reliable. Pellx changed the software to make it run on our 60 cycle power.


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## Hansson (Aug 7, 2009)

Sting said:
			
		

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Oh sorry Sting.That was not my intention.

I do think that the oil is not going to be cheaper.It`s a non renewable energy.
The oil prices can change fast and when we hit peak oil"if there is one?" the price is going to rocket


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## rowerwet (Sep 21, 2009)

if we ever hit "peak oil" the competing technology will become competitive, until then it will be where it is now, oil wasn't chosen by big industry, it was chosen by consumers. In cars the electric car was out before the gasoline car, and just like steam cars they couldn't compete in the market. Unless politicians see a way to dump outrageous taxes on a technology (the carbon tax) the cheapest will be the one that sells the best.


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## Como (Sep 22, 2009)

For me electricity is much cheaper than oil or propane, half the price.

Whilst electricity is much cheaper, the real issue for cars is range.


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## Hansson (Sep 23, 2009)

rowerwet said:
			
		

> Unless politicians see a way to dump outrageous taxes on a technology (the carbon tax) the cheapest will be the one that sells the best.


Here they have done that. Oil heating is to expensive .It have bring up som new ways to heat you home.
Heatpumps/pellets
Good ore bad? I dont now


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