Biomass is a renewable and sustainable fuel and is plentiful in Ireland. Biomass is becoming more and more popular to reduce reliance on more expensive fossil fuels. It is also a carbon neutral fuel source – trees and other plants absorb CO2 from the atmosphere and emit no additional CO2 during combustion.
Wood Pellets are becoming increasingly popular as a source of fuel for domestic and commercial heating in Ireland.
Wood pellets are made from compressed sawdust, usually waste produced in the wood processing industry (such as sawmills). They are cylindrical in shape, held together by lignin which is naturally occurring in wood. Pellets are uniform in size – around 6mm in diameter and 25mm in length. The pellets are very dry, with less than 10% moisture content. Wood Pellets should have the ‘ENPlusA1’ quality assurance mark indicating the pellets are of high quality.
Pellets can be purchased in bulk, or in individual bags from co-ops, hardware stores or fuel supply stores. Another way people get pellets, is blown into a silo or hopper, or the supplier can deliver bagged pellets on a pallet. Woodco also supplies pellet storage solutions – i.e. hoppers and silos – for residential and commercial applications. It is important that the pellets are kept dry, to keep them intact. The solutions also allow the fuel to be automatically fed to the boiler, for a more hands-off experience.
If you have an old wood pellet boiler, you can avail of the Woodco scrappage scheme where when you purchase a new wood pellet boiler, you will get a free tonne of pellets delivered to your door!
Advantages of Wood Pellets
What do wood pellets in Ireland cost?
Cost of wood pellets may vary, depending on the supplier. It is often significantly cheaper to buy the pellets in bulk (blown into a hopper/silo). Shop around to find the best deal. Woodco’s pellet boilers require pellets of EN-Plus A1 standard, for optimum efficiency. There are three main distributors of pellets in Ireland, Balcas, Laois Sawmills & Leinster Pellets!
- 1 tonne of pellets in small bags cost approx. €500.
- 1 tonne of pellets in one large bag costs approx. €460
- 1 tonne of pellets delivered in bulk costs approx. €430.
Prices are based on 24/01/2024.
Calorific Value Comparison to Oil or Gas
The calorific value of wood pellets is around 4.85kWh/kg. This means that one kilogram of pellets will provide 4.85 kilowatt hours of heat energy. By comparison, the calorific value of oil is around 10.18kWh/litre.
- Consequently, 2.09 tonnes of wood pellets have the same calorific value as 1,000 litres of oil.
- Wood Pellets: 4.85kWh/kg
- Oil: 10.15kWh/Litre
- LPG Gas: 12.78kWh/kg
Cost Calculation
Lastly, to calculate the cost of pellets relative to the cost of oil, simply multiply the cost of x1 tonne of pellets by 2.09. So, for example, if one tonne of pellets costs €500 inc. VAT, 2.09 tonnes will cost €1,045.
This would be equivalent to 1,000 litres of oil – which you could expect to cost over €1,396. That’s a saving of over €300.
