Several long-term experiments with fluctuating thermal outputs have been carried out in a newly developed biomass fuelled boiler suitable for small district heating networks. The experiments have been performed by either using the furnace only or the furnace together with a water heat store. Comparisons between these two operation strategies have been made concerning emissions and overall performance. Furthermore, the plant has been run to match a simulated heat demand during different seasons, in order to study the performance of the system during more realistic operation conditions. The results are very satisfactory concerning both performance and emissions, using any of the control strategies. Typical emissions of CO and NOx during the experiments are in the range of 10-50 mg Nm(-3) (5-25 mg MJ(-1)) and 130-175 mg Nm(-3) (60-90 mg MJ(-1)), respectively. However, during summer when the heat demand is low or zero, operational problems will occur if the heat store is excluded. Therefore, the main conclusion is that the most appropriate solution for a small district-heating system is to use a water heat store to match the heat load variations, while the furnace operates at as constant thermal output as possible. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.