Heating with wood pellets: why choose this method of heating? Report compiled by C. BAYARD and completed Christophe MARTZ.
The reasons for the choice of heating with wood pellets
1 - Financial savings
Compared to fossil fuels that are (and will be) more expensive. Approximately € 210 tonne (4500 to 5000kWh) instead of € 300 for an energy equivalent in oil (€ 0,60 / L which contains 10kWh).
Fuel oil is, with these costs, approximately 45% more expensive than pellets.
Evolution of the price of pellets compared to fuel oil and gas on an isoenergy scale (Euros for the same quantity of energy, in other words: 250 € / T of pellets corresponds to fuel at 50 cts of €). Click on the image to enlarge.
However, the stability of the price of pellets is not necessarily guaranteed for the future. To try to find out more, here is a discussion on the future and the stability of prices of wood pellets
2 - Ecological satisfaction.
Wood, when it burns, certainly gives off CO2, but in a quantity equivalent to the CO2 it absorbed during its growth. We can therefore say that the operation is CO2 neutral. This is not quite correct because the pellet manufacturing process requires additional energy, but it is still much better than burning fossil fuels such as fuel oil. If the pellets are dried using fuel oil, around 7,5% gray energy is required and often the pellets are dried using wood. Find out more.
3 - Social satisfaction
Pellet wood sectors are generally local sectors (while oil production is rare in France) and there are no (at least currently) wars for wood! We cannot say that it is the same for oil or gas ...
4 - Satisfaction with having an innovative and original system.
That is to say, contribute to innovation and technological advances, but that is a bit of a personal fad.
5 - Ease of use (compared to logs).
It must be remembered because too many people think it's like a log wood boiler has to be loaded all the time. A pellet boiler is fully automatic.
There is no difference in method of use compared to your old boiler oil or gas.
Read more: advantages and disadvantages of pellets compared to wood