Additional Central heating source

[Buzzardist]

My CH is supplied from a gas boiler and there is also an immersion heater installed but it struggles to maintain heat to all the radiators.
I am planning to install a wood burning stove with back boiler.
Can this be used as a supplementary CH source connected in to the existing pipe circuit?

[Buzzardist]

Thank you Zacmaster; That is a most informative website.. excellent!

[Coldicote]

Before you make a decision it might be worth considering going all electric with Economy 7 and storage heaters that heat up through the night, but you may need a bit of extra room heat in the latter part of the day. I leave my immersion heater on all the time. Also have a paraffin heater for emergencies in case of a power failure.

[annie0000]

Are you sure your immersion heater is intended to heat the radiators? Mine only heats the hot water tank - not linked to the radiators at all.

[AlBags]

Unless it's a mansion, an average boiler should heat quite a few rads ok. The system may need balancing, or cleaning out. (Water may be rushing through rads nearest pump and hardly heating rads at extremity)
Check pump is ok and if has a speed setting try 2nd speed (from slowest)
Depending on layout of existing, yes, Back boiler can be connected.

[BRIGHT SPARK]

A woodburner can be interfaced with a conventional CH system by using a DUNSLEY mixing unit.There are two types and they mix pumped water in your CH system with gravity hot water (in 28mm pipes) from your woodburner.You need to install a pipe stat to the 28mm pipe so that hot water from the woodburner can be pumped around the system when the CH system is not in use. This can be achieved quite easily.
Having said all this I personaly would have a good woodburner for secondary heat and an uprated CH boiler for primary.I considered a hybrid system however a woodburner needs constant feeding with high energy fuel to enable it to make sufficient contribution to the CH system.We have 2 woodburners and the largest is 18kw.....this eats 2 tons of logs per week in the winter.