JohnR's activity

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Hello All -I  am wanting to move a box 110cm x 38cm x 33cm weighing about 50kg from Bagni di Lucca area to Ickford, near Oxford.  Courier charges are through the roof, but I'm happy to pay €150 to someone who can transport it.  Can transport the b

Wed, 10/31/2018 - 06:37

 Hi All -I'm new to this forum  - I'm renovating a village house in a hill village in Northern Tuscany, and have been here for just over 3 years.At the moment I'm looking to install a pellet boiler to heat my house, which is around 85 sq m and 230

Mon, 11/09/2009 - 06:12

Comments posted

Mon, 03/08/2010 - 11:16

Cancel that, I've found it - thanks anyway. John

Mon, 03/08/2010 - 10:46

Hi Andrea - I'm afraid I can't get a result on Facebook for Lucca and Pisa and Stranieri, and seaching for Andrea Lucca produces many results, and I have no clue as to which is the right one.  Your group sounds interesting, and being a good and honest straniero, I'd like to join.... John

Tue, 11/10/2009 - 17:44

 Many thanks Adriatica for your very helpful reply.Your experiment seems to indicate a running cost for pellets of around one-fifth the cost of (tank) gas, which fits in with what I would have expected.  Speaking of "being careful with temps", I had my thermostat set at 13° last winter (using bottled gas), heating the downstairs only, and the cost was around €3,50 per day, or equivalent cost to 1 bag of pellets per day - I would hope to get a lot more heat out of a bag of pellets!  Your 21° sounds like pure luxury!One factor which I think I need to look at when choosing a pellet boiler is the cleaning routine - a couple of anecdotal reports indicate a big difference in the amount of work required for different makes (the reports refer to stufe which heat water rather than caldaie, but the principle is much the same).  I really need to see the boilers in a showroom and ask searching questions.........

Tue, 11/10/2009 - 13:07

 I have a largish ingresso, and my intention is to partition off a part of it for the boiler and pellet storage.

Tue, 11/10/2009 - 13:04

 Hi Shas - A caminetto (in this case) is a steel box with a glass door which is meant to fit inside an existing fireplace (or an enclosure could be built around it) and it heats water for radiators and domestic use as well as the room in which it is located.  Mine is a Jolly-Mec 29kw, dimensions 800 wide x 650 high x about 550 deep.  It came complete with 2 pumps, expansion cylinder, heat exchanger for domestic water, various safety valves and a little electronic control box.  Cost was about €3500 (not including installation) in 2007, but I guess its second-hand value is somewhat less.  If you're interested I have enough firewood to demonstrate it in action - send me a private message if you like.When I bought the caminetto a friend of mine was renting the next-door house, and he was happy to let me use the cantina and access.  Inadvertently, I introduced him to a single lady in the village, and in no time he had moved in with her...........must be a lesson there........  Anyway, the owner of the house made me remove my firewood from the cantina, and installed locks on the gates.Ciao JohnPS  The caminetto is meant to be used with a normal central heating system, either stand-alone or with another boiler - for instance, I have a gas boiler on the same system. 

Tue, 11/10/2009 - 04:42

 Thank you for that Gala.In fact, I already have a gas system which was in the house when I bought it.  But bottled gas is my only option, as there is no mains gas in the area (Vico Pancellorum).  It is not possible to have a tank, as I have no land beyond the house.In addition to that, a couple of years ago I installed a wood-fired caminetto connected to the central heating system.  This is very effective, but I had not understood the sheer volume of wood required to keep it going.  At the time I had the use of an adjacent cantina for wood storage, and easy access for wood delivery through the neighbouring property, but the owner (who lives overseas) has not allowed the storage and access for some time now.  The caminetto is therefore not practical for me to use, and my intention is to try to sell it.Hence my intention to install a pellet caldaia.  I would still have to carry bags of pellets up to the house, but these are a lot easier to carry than firewood, and I wouldn't need to store vast quantities.

Mon, 11/09/2009 - 15:54

 Yes, I'm looking to run a central heating system (this already exists), therefore am looking for a caldaia/boiler.