When choosing which wood fuelled boiler to install the following issues should be considered:

1. Continuous modulation - Many pellet heating systems have a huge power range and are capable of continuously variable modulation. In winter the outside temperatures can fluctuate between 15ºC to –5ºC and sometimes colder. Whilst the traditional heating systems adjust to these temperature changes with frequent switching on and off or with few fixed power levels, some pellet units are able to fully adjust their heat power output. This not only saves on heating costs, it also has a positive effect on the life of the boiler equipment.
2. Automatic heat exchanger cleaning - In order to maintain a high heat exchange, and therefore keep the boiler at peak performance, it is important to keep the heat exchanger clear of tar and scale. Some boilers include an automatic system that removes deposit of ashes from the exchanger surface.
3. Automatic de-ashing systems - Traditionally wood burning devices have always required the ash to be removed manually on a regular basis. Although ash from heartwood is less than 0.5% if left to accumulate over several days it can eventually block the grate and seriously affect the performance of the fire.
4. Sleep mode -  When heating or hot water is not required wood-fuel boilers can switch to pause mode. This is similar to the pilot light on a gas or oil boiler and fuel is slowly fed to the burner to maintain a small fire. At night and when the heating is turned off most wood-fuel boilers would be in pause mode.
5. Automatic ignition - Most boilers can be fitted with automatic ignition. Wood-chip boilers typically use a system that blows very hot air into the fuel bed (similar to a paint stripper) until the fuel on the grate ignites. Wood-pellet boilers often use an electric coil to heat up pellets until they ignite. The top of the range models use automatic ignition to restart the boiler at the end of the sleep mode.
6. Safety - Most boilers are fitted with multiple safety features to prevent burn back which could otherwise result in fuel store ignition. Such feature provide a break in the fuel feed system so that there is always a gap between the incoming fuel and the fuel feeding directly into the boiler. This prevents the spread of fire back into the fuel store. In addition, boilers are fitted with temperature cut outs which shut down the boiler in the event of over heating in the feed handling system. Some even have a water dosing system in the unlikely event of the other two safety features fail.
7. Fuel - Wood pellet boilers are fully automatic and almost as convenient as using gas or oil. They are well suited to meet variable load demands and can be operated on a timer. Being a very dense fuel pellets require less storage space than logs or chips

Wood fuelled boilers can be installed alongside, or replace, existing gas, coal or oil boilers with no modifications to the heating system being necessary. Consequently, wood fuelled boilers are suitable for either new build installations or as a retro-fit.

Many new build projects will lend themselves to integrating different renewable and conventional energy services. Both legislation and aspiration will increasingly demand building service engineers to investigate combining renewable heat technologies (wood boilers, solar thermal and heat pumps) in the design of a building.