The best biomass boilers will make your home more efficient, reduce your energy bills and shrink your carbon footprint. When looking to heat your home with biomass, manufacturers Froling, Grant, Windhager and Viessmann are all well worth considering.
Best biomass boilers
The best biomass boilers are manufactured by Froling, Grant, Viessmann and Windhager. By comparing the biomass boilers manufactured by the brands, you’ll find a suitable renewable heating system for your home.
Froling
Over the past 50 years, Froling has played an important role in developing highly efficient biomass heating systems. They have a wide range of biomass boiler models that can run on wood pellets, chips or logs. And with a number of outputs available, you’re likely to find a suitable boiler to meet the heating and hot water demands of your property.
| Froling Biomass Boilers | Output Ratings (kW) | Fuel Type | Efficiency |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE1 Pellet | 7, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35 | Wood pellets | A+ |
| PE1c Pellet | 15, 20 | Wood pellets | A++ |
| P4 Pellet | 48, 60 | Wood pellets | A+ |
| T4e | 19.9, 25.1, 30, 35, 45, 49.9, 60 | Wood chips | A+ |
| SP Dual | 22, 28, 34, 40 | Wood logs and pellets | A+ |
| SP Dual Compact | 15, 20 | Wood logs and pellets | A+ |
Grant
Grant specialise in wood pellet boilers that are highly efficient and available in outputs ranging from 4 kW up to 36 kW. And to help you save space, the Spira models can be installed in a garage or out-house.
| Grant Biomass Boilers | Output Ratings (kW) | Fuel Type | Efficiency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spira | 18 – 36 | Wood pellets | A+ |
| Spira 2 | 26 – 36 | Wood pellets | A+ |
| Vecta (Internal) | 4 – 16 | Wood pellets | A+ |
| Vecta (External) | 4 – 16 | Wood pellets | A+ |
Viessmann
Most well known for the gas boilers, Viessmann now offers a range of biomass boilers that run on wood pellets.The Vitoligno 300-C range is available in outputs of 8 kW up to 48 kW and has a high efficiency performance of 95.3%.
- Offer flexible and space-saving installation
- Automatic ash removal
- Take control of the heating from anywhere using the Viessmann app
| Viessmann Biomass Boilers | Output Ratings (kW) | Fuel Type | Efficiency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vitoligno 300-C | 8, 12, 18, 24, 32, 40, 48 | Wood pellets | A+ |
Windhager
Windhager offers an extensive range of biomass boilers that can run on wood pellets, logs or chips. Each unit is very efficient (at least 92%) and with outputs ranging from 3 kW right up to 240 kW there’s a suitable system for small, medium and large properties.
| Windhager Biomass Boilers | Output Ratings (kW) | Fuel Type | Efficiency |
|---|---|---|---|
| BioWIN 2 Touch | 3 – 33 | Wood pellets | 94.4% |
| BioWIN Lite | 3 – 26 | Wood pellets | 94.4% |
| BioWIN Excel | 11 – 60 | Wood pellets | 92% |
| BioWIN Kaskade | 6.5 – 240 | Wood pellets | 92% |
| FireWIN | 3.8 – 12 | Wood pellets | 95.7% |
| LogWIN Premium | 13 – 50 | Wood logs | 92% |
| LogWIN Klassik | 18 – 30 | Wood logs | 92% |
| PuroWIN | 24 – 103 | Wood chips | 93% |
Which biomass boiler is best suited to your home?
Depending on the model, biomass boilers burn either wood logs, chips or pellets.
All biomass fuels must be stored onsite but wood logs will take up the most room. And because of their size, you will have to manually feed them into the boiler yourself. This is unlike automatically-fed biomass boilers that run on wood chips or pellets. Despite these downsides, fuelling your home with wood logs could potentially be completely free. As if you have access to a woodland area then you could collect wood logs yourself.
If you plan to collect wood logs yourself to use as fuel for your biomass boiler be careful when it comes to moisture content. Burning wood with high moisture content is inefficient and will leave behind more mess which will need cleaning out. On the other hand, if the moisture content is too low then the fuel will burn too quickly. This is the case for wood chips and pellets as well as logs.
Purchasing biomass fuel from a supplier will give you the confidence that the moisture content is suitable for home heating. Typically, it will sit between 25-60% and about 35% is ideal.
Take a look at the table below to find the best biomass boiler ranges depending on the biomass fuel you plan to use. Froling and Windhager are the only manufacturers to offer boilers that run on all 3 types of fuel.
| Biomass Fuel | Best Biomass Manufacturer | Best Biomass Boiler Range |
|---|---|---|
| Wood Chips | Froling | T4e |
| Windhager | PuroWIN | |
| Wood Logs | Froling | SP Dual |
| Windhager | LogWIN | |
| Wood Pellets | Froling | PE1 Pellet |
| P4 Pellet | ||
| SP Dual | Grant | Spira |
| Vecta | ||
| Viessmann | Vitoligno 300-C | |
| Windhager | BioWIN | |
| FireWIN |
Benefits of the best biomass boilers
Making the switch from a heating system powered by fossil fuels to a biomass heating system offers many benefits:
- Highly effective heating systems that perform to efficiency levels of over 90%
- Burning wood is a carbon-neutral process as opposed to burning gas or oil which increases the amount of carbon in the atmosphere
- Save money on your energy bills as biomass fuels are generally cheaper than gas and oil
- Receive payments through the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI)
How much do the best biomass boilers cost?
The prices of the best biomass boilers begin at around £7,000 and range up to £14,000. Prices will vary based on the manufacturer, model and whether the fuel is fed into the boiler manually or automatically.
| Best Biomass Boiler Manufacturers | Potential Cost |
|---|---|
| Froling | £8,000 – £14,000 |
| Grant | £11,000 – £12,500 |
| Viessmann | £9,000 – £10,000 |
| Windhager | £7,000 – £10,000 |
You’ll notice that the price of a biomass boiler is generally far higher than that of gas and oil boilers – which can potentially be installed for around £2,000. However, when turning to a renewable heating system, it’s worth looking at the long term costs involved.
Biomass fuels are generally cheaper than gas and oil – prices of which are rising by around 10% annually – and can even be free if you plan to collect logs yourself.
| Fuel Used for Home Heating | Average Tariff (p/kWh) |
|---|---|
| Gas | 4.17 |
| Oil | 4.81 |
| LPG | 7.19 |
| Electricity (standard rate) | 16.36 |
| Wood chips | 2.6 |
| Wood pellets | 3.9 |
In addition to the price of the biomass boiler itself, you will also need to consider the installation costs. And to find the best price for the installation of a new biomass boiler, we highly recommend comparing quotes.
