Boiler fuel: types, characteristics

If you are seriously thinking about the question of which fuel is better to choose for heating your house, you should consider several of its varieties to study the positive and negative sides. If you own a suburban real estate or a house in the city, then your house can have a boiler installed. Perhaps you have already equipped the boiler room and are choosing the 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 buy. Technical progress has gone a long way, so if you have not already purchased boiler equipment, then you can choose the model that works on the most beneficial form of fuel.

Types of fuel: solar energy

Choosing boiler fuel, you can pay attention to heat pumps and solar energy. To date, this direction of alternative energy is the most promising and young. From the point of view of environmental protection, this decision will be the best choice. In addition, solar energy has zero cost. However, equipment that operates on the principle of solar energy conversion is the most expensive, and the efficiency with this transformation is one of the lowest.

Thus, the share of solar heating in the overall system will not exceed 10% in the 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 up to -15 ° C. If the thermometer's column drops below, then the consumer will have to use an electric heater to heat the coolant - this approach can not be called economical.

Use of briquettes

If you choose boiler fuel, you can pay attention to briquettes and leftovers from sawn timber. This option is quite advantageous, for it you can use an old wood-burning boiler. Briquettes have a rectangular shape, so they are convenient to store and pawn. When they are burned, less soot and smoke form.

In comparison with firewood, the price of a kilowatt of heat will be higher. You can buy such briquettes in any specialized goods store. However, they burn quite quickly, so they have to be stacked every 4 hours.

Application of firewood

A solid fuel boiler house can use wood, which at one time was one of the popular among the varieties of other fuels. Today it is quite rare to find houses with boiler houses on firewood. And an impressive area of heating in this way is unlikely to work. The remaining boilers on firewood live out their time and change to equipment operating on a different type of fuel. The consumer over time understands that it is not only difficult, but also expensive, to get dry wood. As for Europe, it is prohibited to use firewood there.

The use of coal

As a boiler fuel can produce coal. He, like firewood, is becoming less popular. Among the advantages can be identified low cost and energy intensity, but the disadvantages are much greater. To lay and store coal is rather difficult, the remains of burning can not be left on the territory of the house, and the smell and smoke turn the dwelling into a hub station for the sorting of trains. Coal is quite fire dangerous, it can catch fire on its own. Today it is used only in the conditions of state enterprises, factories and factories.

Oil extraction

Liquid fuel for boiler houses can be represented by mining, it is inexpensive, it can even get for free. This fuel is energy-intensive, but today there are no branded boilers that would function on the working site. Equipment can be remade by hand, then it will be able to burn the oil mixture. I'll just have to find a setup professional.

But the positive features do not compensate for the content of poisonous antifreeze in the oil, and the efficiency of the boiler is not able to reach the maximum. The equipment will smoke, and the smell will be even worse than the one that is formed in the case of coal. Keep processing is rather fire dangerous, so it is worth considering the appropriateness of using it.

Diesel fuel

The boiler house on diesel fuel is quite common today. The material is quite expensive, but it does not prevent it from being popular. Having familiarized with the range of boiler equipment, you will be able to find many models designed for this type of fuel. Models are large in size and equipped with a fuel tank. Therefore, to install the device will have to allocate a large boiler house, which must meet certain characteristics.

Among the positive features of this fuel can be distinguished fire resistance and automation of units. But such boilers are quite expensive in maintenance, and for 1 kW of heating you will have to pay an impressive amount. If you have a house, the area of which is 250 m ² , then its annual heating will cost more than 100 000 rubles.

Liquefied gas or main gas

The boiler house on gaseous fuel will operate in automatic mode. It has a high coefficient of efficiency and minimal emission of harmful substances into the atmosphere. 1 kW of heat in this case, too, is expensive, but for some consumers, gaseous fuels are one of the best.

The gas-fired boiler house can be operated at the expense of the main supply. The cost of such fuel in Russia is the lowest in comparison with other countries. The equipment has the highest coefficient of efficiency, it is safe and automated, its operation is not accompanied by the emission of smoke and odor.

Using electricity

The fastest and easiest way to heat a house is electricity. Emissions into the atmosphere are not present, there is no need to allocate fuel storage, in addition, electric boilers are compact, but inexpensive. But in this case there are drawbacks that make the owners think about changing the boiler or turn their gaze when buying a new one for other types of boiler equipment. As the main disadvantage is a fairly high cost of electrical energy, perhaps this shortcoming will become decisive for you.

Use of pellets

Today, pellets are often used as boiler fuel. Their popularity has recently increased. The natural resource in this case is:

• Lumber residues;
• wood;
• Logging waste.

Over the past decade, the range of boilers on pellets has expanded. Their efficiency reaches 93%. The equipment is fire-safe and automated, its dimensions usually do not exceed the dimensions of the washing machine.

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

Use of liquefied petroleum gas

As a backup fuel for the boiler room can come liquefied hydrocarbon gas. Its use has many advantages, among which, it should be emphasized that it is not necessary to heat the storage park in winter, it 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 almost instantaneous.