Boiler fuel: types, characteristics

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

If you are seriously considering the question of which fuel is better to choose for heating your home, you should consider several of its varieties in order to study the positive and negative sides. If you are the owner of suburban real estate or a house within the city, then a boiler can be installed in your home. Perhaps you have already equipped the boiler room and are selecting equipment for it.

Different models of such devices can use a certain type of fuel. Some of them are more economical, while others are cheaper to purchase. Technical progress has stepped far forward, so if you have not yet purchased boiler equipment, you can choose the model that runs on the most profitable type of fuel.

Fuel options: solar energy

When choosing boiler fuel, you can look at heat pumps and solar energy. To date, this direction of alternative energy is the most promising and young. From the pointIn terms of environmental protection, this solution will be the best choice. In addition, solar energy has zero cost. However, solar energy conversion equipment is the most expensive, and the efficiency of such conversion is one of the lowest.

Thus, the share of solar heating in the total system will not exceed 10% in winter. As for the heat pump, it requires a huge amount of electrical energy, and this pleasure is quite expensive. Such devices operate at temperatures down to -15 ° C. If the thermometer drops below, then the consumer will have to use an electric heating element to heat the coolant - this approach cannot be called economical.

Use of briquettes

If you choose boiler fuel, you can pay attention to briquettes and lumber residues. This option is quite profitable, you can use an old wood-burning boiler for it. Briquettes have a rectangular shape, so it is convenient to store and lay them. They produce less soot and smoke when burned.

Compared to firewood, the price of a kilowatt of heat will be higher. You can buy such briquettes in any store of specialized goods. However, they burn out pretty quickly, so you have to put them on every 4 hours.

Using firewood

Solid fuel boiler room can use wood, which at one time wasone of the most popular among the varieties of other fuels. Today, it is quite rare to find houses with wood-fired boilers. Yes, and an impressive area to heat in this way is unlikely to succeed. The remaining wood-fired boilers live out their lives and are replaced by equipment operating on a different type of fuel. The consumer eventually understands that getting dry firewood is not only difficult, but also expensive. As for Europe, it is forbidden to use firewood there.

Use of coal

Coal can act as a boiler fuel. He, like firewood, is becoming less popular. Among the advantages, low cost and energy intensity can be distinguished, but there are much more disadvantages. Pawning and storing coal is quite difficult, the remains of burning cannot be left on the territory of the house, and the smell and smoke turn the dwelling into a junction station for sorting trains. Coal is quite flammable, it can catch fire on its own. Today it is used only in the conditions of state enterprises, factories and plants.

Oil recovery

Liquid fuel for boiler houses can be represented by mining, it is inexpensive, it can even be obtained free of charge. This fuel is energy-intensive, but there are no branded boilers that would function during mining today. The equipment can be converted manually, then it will be able to burn the oil mixture. You just have to find a professional to set it up.

But the positive features do not compensate for the content of poisonousantifreeze, and the efficiency of the boiler is not able to reach a maximum. The equipment will smoke, and the smell will be even worse than that which is formed in the case of using coal. It is quite a fire hazard to store processing, so you should think about the advisability of using it.

Diesel fuel

Diesel fuel boiler is quite common today. The material is quite expensive, but this does not prevent him from being popular. After reviewing the range of boiler equipment, you can find many models designed for this type of fuel. Models are large and equipped with a fuel tank. Therefore, to install the device, you will have to allocate a large boiler room, which must meet certain characteristics.

Among the positive features of such fuel are fire protection and automation of units. But such boilers are quite expensive to maintain, and for 1 kW of heating you will have to pay an impressive amount. If you have a house with an area of 250 m2, then its annual heating will cost more than 100,000 rubles.

Liquefied or main gas

The gaseous fuel boiler will operate in automatic mode. It has a high efficiency and minimal emissions of harmful substances into the atmosphere. 1 kW of heat in this case is also expensive, but for some consumers, gaseousfuel is one of the best.

The gas-fueled boiler room can be powered by mains supply. The cost of such fuel in Russia is the lowest compared to other countries. The equipment has the highest efficiency, it is safe and automated, its operation is not accompanied by the emission of smoke and smell.

Use of electricity

The fastest and easiest way to heat your home is with electricity. There are no emissions into the atmosphere, there is no need to allocate space for fuel storage, in addition, electric boilers are compact and inexpensive. But in this case, there are some drawbacks that make the owners think about changing the boiler or turn their eyes when buying a new one to other types of boiler equipment. The main disadvantage is the rather high cost of electrical energy, perhaps this drawback will be decisive for you.

Use of pellets

Pellets are often used as boiler fuel today. Their popularity has been on the rise in recent years. The natural resource in this case is:

• lumber leftovers;
• wood;
• logging waste.

Over the past decade, the range of pellet boilers has expanded. Their efficiency reaches 93%. The equipment is fireproof and automated, and its dimensions usually do not exceed the dimensions of a washing machine.

Installation of the boiler can be carried out directly in the house. By purchasingpellets, you can transport them in bags of 15-20 kg. You can store fuel in any dry room. The operation of the boiler is almost not accompanied by the formation of smoke and smell. The only disadvantage of this type of fuel is the high cost. However, many manufacturers today are trying to correct this shortcoming by selling boilers at an acceptable cost.

Use of LPG

Liquefied hydrocarbon gas can act as a backup fuel for the boiler house. Its use has many advantages, among which it should be noted that there is no need to heat the storage park in winter, which significantly reduces operating costs. Stealing such fuel is much more difficult; for Russian conditions, this fact is also not unimportant. And for the consumer, the transition from natural gas to the described mixture will be almost imperceptible, because it is carried out almost instantly.