The second hopper load of pellets has almost all been used by the boiler. It's just as well that I therefore had a sudden flash of inspiration to check out the ash drawer at the base of the boiler. Sure enough, after two hoppers of pellets the ash pan was brim fill. Any more and it would've been backing up into the burner chamber - not sure what that would do but I'm sure it wouldn't be a good thing!
So what do you do with a pile of warm ash? After googling the use of ash in the garden on a range of websites I decided the new compost heap was the place to put it. It was easy to get the ash out from the boiler - undoing two thumbturn screws releases the ash pan/drawer which can easily be lifted out by one person when it's full.
Mixed with the usual veg peelings etc from the house, the ash should help to improve the structure of the compost and will introduce potassium and other nutrients into the mix. I'll have to make sure that I don't use too much as potash will increase soil pH, making the soil more alkaline.
Monday, 26 October 2009
Wednesday, 21 October 2009
Home
Following on from the electrician completing his work last thursday, the plumber finished off his work on friday when he plumbed in the kitchen sink, dishwasher and washing machine. He also had a few leaks to sort on the heating system, which were completed on monday. With all these finished it marks the end of the builder and the other trades working on the house - what's left is all down to us now!
What it also means is that we have all the services up and running, so we moved back to Hillside on monday, reclaiming it as our home. There's still a load to do, and we're making do with limited flooring as we've only just ordered the oak that will go in many of the rooms, so it's a challenge to keep parts of the house clean.
Now that we are back in the house we can start to put it and the various technologies we've installed to the test. So far everything is working well, and I've only had to refill the boiler hopper once in two weeks, which bodes well. But as it's been a mild start to autumn I guess I shouldn't be suprised. Plus the heating has only been ticking over on a very low setting. I'm now starting to adjust the various control settings, using the underfloor heating in most areas to build up the heat stored in the house's thermal mass. This is already working in the kitchen which seems to easily be maintained at a steady temperature thanks to the low grade heat stored within the concrete and limestone floor.
As the winter sets in and we get used to how the building performs I'll try to ensure I record what open plan living is like, and hope we don't have to retreat to the snug living room and the woodburner too much!
What it also means is that we have all the services up and running, so we moved back to Hillside on monday, reclaiming it as our home. There's still a load to do, and we're making do with limited flooring as we've only just ordered the oak that will go in many of the rooms, so it's a challenge to keep parts of the house clean.
Now that we are back in the house we can start to put it and the various technologies we've installed to the test. So far everything is working well, and I've only had to refill the boiler hopper once in two weeks, which bodes well. But as it's been a mild start to autumn I guess I shouldn't be suprised. Plus the heating has only been ticking over on a very low setting. I'm now starting to adjust the various control settings, using the underfloor heating in most areas to build up the heat stored in the house's thermal mass. This is already working in the kitchen which seems to easily be maintained at a steady temperature thanks to the low grade heat stored within the concrete and limestone floor.
As the winter sets in and we get used to how the building performs I'll try to ensure I record what open plan living is like, and hope we don't have to retreat to the snug living room and the woodburner too much!
Saturday, 17 October 2009
Induction
As part of the new kitchen we've bought an electric ceramic hob. With our green electricity from Ecotricity this is far more environmentally friendly than using gas (And it would have to be bottled gas as there's no mains gas in the village). But it's not an ordinary ceramic hob, we've decided to splash out on an induction hob, albeit courtesy of a John Lewis special offer.
Induction hobs are supposed to be extremely efficient, as the electromagnetic current they create in ferrous pans heats the contents up directly, rather than the pan, resulting in a very efficient and controllable heat source.
We finally had chance to give our De Dietrich hob it's first use yesterday it proved to be a resounding success, once we'd tracked down the right pans to use - not only is it very efficient, boiling water faster than a kettle, but the heat is amazingly controllable without any of the delay in dissipating heat I've experienced on conventional ceramic hobs. Okay, so it looks like we can't use our old frying pan as it is made from some non-ferrous alloys, but that's a small price to pay for an amazingly responsive and energy efficient means of cooking.
Induction hobs are supposed to be extremely efficient, as the electromagnetic current they create in ferrous pans heats the contents up directly, rather than the pan, resulting in a very efficient and controllable heat source.
We finally had chance to give our De Dietrich hob it's first use yesterday it proved to be a resounding success, once we'd tracked down the right pans to use - not only is it very efficient, boiling water faster than a kettle, but the heat is amazingly controllable without any of the delay in dissipating heat I've experienced on conventional ceramic hobs. Okay, so it looks like we can't use our old frying pan as it is made from some non-ferrous alloys, but that's a small price to pay for an amazingly responsive and energy efficient means of cooking.
Sunday, 11 October 2009
Extract
You wouldn't think putting in an kitchen island extractor would be so dificult would you?
We bought the island extractor hood a couple of months ago but this is the first chance we've had of installing it. With a bit of forward thinking we made sure the builders put in a power supply and some flexible ducting to outside in approximately the right place. Now that we have the island unit and the hood sorted it turns out it wasn't quite the right place. So I've spent today cutting out plasterboard and roof insulation so that I can install the extractor mounting bracket. It seems to be designed for installation on a flat ceiling, but as the kitchen diner is at a 15 degree pitch this doesn't work, so I've had to cut out some of the roof lining so the bracket can be recessed. This gives the illusion of the ducting disappearing into the ceiling.
Fortunately I managed to find a batten to fix half the bracket to, and for the other half was able to find space to install a new batten. The true test will come when I connect the extractor canopy, which due to a commitment tomorrow night, wont be until Tuesday evening. Time will tell!
We bought the island extractor hood a couple of months ago but this is the first chance we've had of installing it. With a bit of forward thinking we made sure the builders put in a power supply and some flexible ducting to outside in approximately the right place. Now that we have the island unit and the hood sorted it turns out it wasn't quite the right place. So I've spent today cutting out plasterboard and roof insulation so that I can install the extractor mounting bracket. It seems to be designed for installation on a flat ceiling, but as the kitchen diner is at a 15 degree pitch this doesn't work, so I've had to cut out some of the roof lining so the bracket can be recessed. This gives the illusion of the ducting disappearing into the ceiling.
Fortunately I managed to find a batten to fix half the bracket to, and for the other half was able to find space to install a new batten. The true test will come when I connect the extractor canopy, which due to a commitment tomorrow night, wont be until Tuesday evening. Time will tell!
Saturday, 10 October 2009
Oiled
The oak worktops arrived last friday. Thankfully the guys at Burbage Joinery delivered them as the one for the kitchen island is rather heavy. With wide staves, 100mm or so, and no joints along the length, they make a great looking worktop.
Last weekend I cut out the hole for the sink. with a little trepidation as I didn't want to make a mess of it. No way we we're getting replacement worktops if I did! Thankfully with a little help from a borrowed Makita circular saw that could through cut the 40mm oak it wasn't difficult, but did take a fair bit of time and care. Each cut took several attempts to cut all the way through with the blade running very hot, so much so it was charring some of the sawdust as it came out!
Did a similar job with the island worktop yesterday, with the cutout for the induction hob. So we can now oil the island worktop - we oiled the sink section earlier this week using Osmo oil, a translucent, natural and solvent free oil that should both protect the wood from water and also helps to emphasise the natural grain.
We've also applied the oil to the original floorboards in the front bedrooms. With one, where the boards had been sanded back to the original honeyed pine, we applied clear oil. On the other, where the floorboards are darker through a combination of various stains and paints, we've used some of the Nutshell pigments to make a darker oil which has given the floor the look of old oak. Looks a bit rustic, but it fits in well with our approach of keeping the style of the two original bedrooms more in keeping with the 100 year old cottage, to contrast with the modern extensions.
Last weekend I cut out the hole for the sink. with a little trepidation as I didn't want to make a mess of it. No way we we're getting replacement worktops if I did! Thankfully with a little help from a borrowed Makita circular saw that could through cut the 40mm oak it wasn't difficult, but did take a fair bit of time and care. Each cut took several attempts to cut all the way through with the blade running very hot, so much so it was charring some of the sawdust as it came out!
Did a similar job with the island worktop yesterday, with the cutout for the induction hob. So we can now oil the island worktop - we oiled the sink section earlier this week using Osmo oil, a translucent, natural and solvent free oil that should both protect the wood from water and also helps to emphasise the natural grain.
We've also applied the oil to the original floorboards in the front bedrooms. With one, where the boards had been sanded back to the original honeyed pine, we applied clear oil. On the other, where the floorboards are darker through a combination of various stains and paints, we've used some of the Nutshell pigments to make a darker oil which has given the floor the look of old oak. Looks a bit rustic, but it fits in well with our approach of keeping the style of the two original bedrooms more in keeping with the 100 year old cottage, to contrast with the modern extensions.
Thursday, 1 October 2009
Zero carbon
By pure coincidence on 'central heating day' (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8283796.stm) we fired up the wood pellet boiler, so with our electricity supplied via renewable sources and now our heating from burning wood, Hillside can safely be classed as Zero Carbon!(okay, so there is embedded energy in the various materials, but from a heating & hot water perspective it is minimal so the house can be classed as zero carbon).
My initial concerns about being an early adopter of domestic biomass heating have largely been put to rest. Time will tell if maintenance proves to be an issue.
The Ecoflex boiler was very easy to commission. The first challenge was to convert the controls menu on the boiler into English from the factory set German, but this didn't take long. A few minor tweaks on the controls options and we were off, hitting the start button on the boiler. The screw feed auger then started turning to transport the pellets from the hopper to the boiler, but as it was the first fill of the auger it kept timing out as the boiler wasn't sensing any pellets arriving. 20 minutes or so, and several overrides later, and the pellets started dropping into the boiler, and a few minutes after that we finally got ignition. A problem with an airlock in the hot water circuit meant some work by the plumber to get the circulation working, but once that was resolved we had hot water and heating being delivered to the house.
A couple of minor teething issues have cropped up though that I need to resolve:
My initial concerns about being an early adopter of domestic biomass heating have largely been put to rest. Time will tell if maintenance proves to be an issue.
The Ecoflex boiler was very easy to commission. The first challenge was to convert the controls menu on the boiler into English from the factory set German, but this didn't take long. A few minor tweaks on the controls options and we were off, hitting the start button on the boiler. The screw feed auger then started turning to transport the pellets from the hopper to the boiler, but as it was the first fill of the auger it kept timing out as the boiler wasn't sensing any pellets arriving. 20 minutes or so, and several overrides later, and the pellets started dropping into the boiler, and a few minutes after that we finally got ignition. A problem with an airlock in the hot water circuit meant some work by the plumber to get the circulation working, but once that was resolved we had hot water and heating being delivered to the house.
A couple of minor teething issues have cropped up though that I need to resolve:
- The auger feeds a ribbed piece of hose that directs the pellets into the boiler burner. Whilst it's a a fairly steep angle it was originally installed with a slight sag in it. This, and the internal ribs in the hose, resulted in pellets collecting partway down the tube causing the boiler to lock out due to no fuel. We'll have to modify the auger/hose arrangement to ensure the hose is as straight and steep as possible, in the meantime we've tied it inplace and this seems to be doing the trick.
- The boiler setup provides hot water as a priority and only supplies heating once the hot water demand is satisfied. I can see this could be annoying at times so need to see if there is a way to have the hot water and heating circuits running at the same time - it may be I have to call the technical guys at Nuway.
Other than that though we're really impressed with the boiler and it's controls. It'll take a while getting used to the advanced system, with weather compensation (i.e. the heating temperature is linked to the external temperature) and night setback, plus the separate controls for the underfloor heating circuits, but should give us a very efficient and controllable heating system.
And best of all we've cut our use of fossil fuels - bring on the rise in oil prices!
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