Up and running - March/ April 2010
With all the work happening right up to the last minute it wasn't explained to me that we were going to lose our hot water storage tank. The boiler is more than capable of supplying a large amount of mains pressure hot water so there is no need for one. The downside of this was that our low pressure power shower would not hold a steady temperature making showering an unforgetable experience. Once this was replaced with a standard thermostatic Mira shower, life improved dramatically with no need for any extra power boost. We now had mains pressure hot and cold water throughout the house. Nice smell of hot sawdust from the chimney when the burner is on.
Soon used up the initial 30 bags of pellets as the weather was still quite cold. Found a local source of bagged pellets at Kippen. Able to carry 10 - 20Kg bags in the back of our car. Bags cost about £5.20 each so seeing a saving over LPG already. Now using Puffin Pellets which come from Aberdeen previously using 10kg bags of Brites which originated in Ireland.
Just ticking over May, June July 2010
All settling down now. Only topping up by about 1 or 2 bags a week over the summer to keep a regular supply of Hot water. Central heating mainly off although there if we need it. Buying bags locally about 5 at a time. Nice smell of wood when filling the hopper but quite a lot of dust when filling. probably means the pellets are dry though. Need to buy a facemask.....
August/September 2011
Very low usage over the summer months. If we had solar panels we could probably switch the burner off.
Bulk Buy - October 2011
Took the opportunity of a bulk purchase to buy 2 tons of pellets. Able to save a considerable sum on this. You need to buy 12 tons to make a saving so between three of us it was possible. Difficult to store 2 tons of pellets though. They are Verdo 10kg bags so easier to lift into the hopper.
