ᐅ Pellet boiler with condensing technology

Hello everyone,

In April, the BAFA subsidy for biomass combustion (pellets, wood chips, firewood) was increased. Additionally, a so-called investment grant for systems with condensing technology was introduced.

I am currently renovating a single-family house built in 1965. A pellet boiler (a classic model without condensing technology) is already planned as the main energy source. Now, my heating technician pointed out that, thanks to the new subsidy, he could install a new condensing boiler (first introduced at the trade fair this spring) at no extra cost. (I’m not sure if I’m allowed to post the link to the specific system here.)

I’m rather skeptical about this because:
- I don’t necessarily want to be a product tester (like: never install the newest Windows version before the first patches)
- The technology seems, for various reasons, neither simple nor risk-free
- Efficiency ratings above 100% as a marketing tool annoy me and somehow indicate a lack of tangible benefits for the user. (An estimated fuel cost saving of €50–80 (about $55–90) per year seems quite low to me.)

My question: Has anyone had experience, positive or negative, with pellet boilers using condensing technology? Are there good arguments in favor of it that I might be overlooking? Maybe there’s still something that could convince me.

Best regards,
Olli

Hello,

I have no experience with PK in operation but have worked for many years with solar and pellet systems. I share your concerns but am also open to being proven wrong.
Furthermore, I can well imagine that any savings might be offset by more complex maintenance and cleaning.
At the latest, with an expensive and unusable heat exchanger, the savings disappear entirely.

I would personally prefer a combustion process controlled by a lambda sensor.

Olli

Hello,
I am also facing the decision of which pellet heating system suits me best. An additional subsidy of 1500,- is not to be ignored, but being a test subject is also a risk. How did you decide?
What is a lambda sensor?
Best regards

Lambda sensor, if you want to look it up. It optimizes combustion. However, a boiler naturally becomes more expensive depending on how much technology it includes. And the more technology it has, the more can potentially break. In the end, it’s a matter of personal preference whether you choose a more affordable pellet boiler for 4000 euros or a high-tech boiler for 25,000 euros. With the cheaper one, you have to do more yourself, and the savings on heating costs from the advanced technology usually do not justify the cost of the 25,000-euro boiler in the long run.
Here is a PDF on the topic of condensing boilers and pellets from the chimney sweep association (so it’s impartial):

Hi there, I ultimately decided on a "traditional" pellet boiler without condensing technology. The main reason for me was that the potential savings are too low in my case. Since I plan to combine it with solar collectors and a wood-burning fireplace, the pellet consumption should stay fairly limited (at least I hope so). Although the additional costs for purchasing a condensing system are now quite low (even neutral with subsidies), it still involves the risks of a relatively complex technology and a newly introduced system without long-term experience.

I had already come across the article from the chimney sweep association linked above during my research, but to be fair, it is already 6 years old. The technology has certainly evolved since then, but as mentioned, practical experience with the new systems is still lacking. I’m very curious to see what is known about the maintenance efforts for pellet systems with and without condensing technology after 3 to 5 years...

Regards, Olli

Hello,
thank you very much for the information, it was really helpful! Ökofen promotes condensing technology very aggressively; the representative only recommended this boiler and, of course, salespeople usually don’t emphasize disadvantages!
Best regards