Neighbor's pellet delivery

[drewmo]

I'm a wood burner, but must admit I'm very impressed with my neighbor's pellet boiler set up. He's running an HS TARM MB SOLO to heat his 150m2 home. His 800 liter tank holds 150 liters for hot water, and the remaining 650 liters for heating. In addition to radiators, he has heated floors. He is very happy with the installation, now about 3 years old. During the dead of winter, he says he burns a ton of pellets per month. He has built a hopper for his pellets and had 4 metric tons delivered yesterday at a cost of about 200 euros per ton (about $260). Not sure how that compares with prices back in the States. Seems to me that everything in France is more expensive, including my wood.

Here's a couple photos of the pellet truck and his set up.

 

[smoke show]

very nice, thanks for sharing.

 

[jtakeman]

Thats neat! It has to beat all that lugging, up and down the stairs to stash them in the basement!

Looks like he made his own bunker for storage?

 

[Pellet-King]

Ton of pellets per month?, no thanks!!

 

[imacman]

Ton of pellets per month?, no thanks!!

It sounds like a lot, but when you consider that he's heating the WHOLE house (including radiant heated floors), AND his hot water with just pellets, it's not that bad.

 

[vvvv]

150m2 home would be 500' x 500'? maybe 2 stories? still pretty big

 

[magsf11]

neet thanks for the pics and info.

 

[fossil]

150 m² = ~1615 ft²

 

[drewmo]

150 m² = ~1615 ft²

I've never been able to figure out how to convert meter squares to feet squares. He has another 60m2 in his unfinished basement, which, after much insulating, he says still keeps at around 55 degrees F during the winter with this system. He and his wife are 75 yo and keep the house at 68 degrees F through the winter.

j-takeman, I think his hopper doubles as a nuclear bomb shelter for the whole neighborhood. I hope I never have to thank him for it. Not that I've seen many of these before, I like how he had a port for the pellets to go in through, and another port to attach the hose to the vacuum the delivery guy brought to catch as much dust as possible. That's the big punching bag looking thing on the floor. The grey tube running along the ceiling is for the pellets, the brown one running to the floor is for the dust (middle picture).

 

[vvvv]

150 m² = ~1615 ft²

makes sense,thanx, i thought 150 X 150.m.!

 

[fossil]

1 square meter = 10.7639104 square feet (approximately )

 

[Don2222]

Helllo

I just paid $250 per ton or $750 USD for 3 tons for the entire next winter to heat my 2,000 sq ft house and I am happy with that. However if I could heat the hot water also like he does for the same money, that is the way to go

Don

 

[The Radiator]

I wonder how long it takes to get 4 tons thru the hose on that truck. It doesn't look to big, but it sure must beat lugging bags around.

 

[hossthehermit]

150 meters square is big. 150 square meters ain't so big. Terminology, and natural order of words in different languages. Don't worry, 3 more years and we'll all be on the same page of the Quran, and it won't matter.

 

[drewmo]

I wonder how long it takes to get 4 tons thru the hose on that truck. It doesn't look to big, but it sure must beat lugging bags around.

It took about 15-20 mins. Pretty quick, I thought.

 

[dac122]

Price is actually competative to what we pay here in the states. How does your neighbor feed from the hopper to the unit, and what does he do if he gets a jam?

Thanks for sharing.

 

[imacman]

.....How does your neighbor feed from the hopper to the unit.......

Click on the 1st pic.....you'll see the feed system on the right. My guess is a vacuum system.

 

[jtakeman]

Price is actually competative to what we pay here in the states. How does your neighbor feed from the hopper to the unit, and what does he do if he gets a jam?

Thanks for sharing.

My guess is there auger feed to the boiler. Look at the pic where I circled in yellow and mark with an A. I believe that is an auger motor gearbox assembly.

 

[imacman]

....My guess is there auger feed to the boiler. Look at the pic where I circled in yellow and mark with an A. I believe that is an auger motor gearbox assembly.

DUH %-P .......I think you're right Jay....now that I look at the set-up a little closer, that DOES look like an auger system.

Thanks for the save, man.

 

[drewmo]

My guess is there auger feed to the boiler. Look at the pic where I circled in yellow and mark with an A. I believe that is an auger motor gearbox assembly.

That's it. The giant, floor-to-ceiling plywood box to the right is his hopper. As for jams, I think his auger handles the pellets quite well. He's complained about dust build-up on the sides of the funnel that's formed when the pellets fall into the auger. Instead of forming a wide funnel, sometimes he gets a very steep-sloped funnel. He says the dust keeps the pellets from falling correctly. Eventually, the dust dam fails and his auger gets full of dust, shutting down the whole system. (Hope that makes sense.) An alarm sounds and he's right there with a rake to take care of it. I noticed he used a different pellet company this delivery, so hopefully he has better quality pellets.

 

[jtakeman]

My guess is there auger feed to the boiler. Look at the pic where I circled in yellow and mark with an A. I believe that is an auger motor gearbox assembly.

That's it. The giant, floor-to-ceiling plywood box to the right is his hopper. As for jams, I think his auger handles the pellets quite well. He's complained about dust build-up on the sides of the funnel that's formed when the pellets fall into the auger. Instead of forming a wide funnel, sometimes he gets a very steep-sloped funnel. He says the dust keeps the pellets from falling correctly. Eventually, the dust dam fails and his auger gets full of dust, shutting down the whole system. (Hope that makes sense.) An alarm sounds and he's right there with a rake to take care of it. I noticed he used a different pellet company this delivery, so hopefully he has better quality pellets.

Thanks for explaining the system. I figured there has to be at least one draw back in it. I wonder if the pellets could be screened before going into the bunker? Most of the dust probably is coming from the truck and pellets bouncing within the fill hose.

 

[rowerwet]

Ton of pellets per month?, no thanks!!

I burned 6 tons last year and winter "ended" in mid Feb. by my standards. that is on my 1800 or so sq ft house and hot water for 5. I am looking for about 8 tons this year. I would love to do bulk delivery like he can.