  Nuclear reactions heat and cool the crust of accreting neutron stars and need
to be understood to interpret observations of X-ray bursts and of long-term
cooling in transiently accreting systems. It was recently suggested that
previously neglected neutron transfer reactions may play a significant role in
the nuclear processes. We present results from full nuclear network
calculations that now include these reactions and determine their impact on
crust composition, crust impurity, heating, and cooling. We find that a large
number of neutron transfer reactions indeed occur and impact crust models. In
particular, we identify a new type of reaction cycle that brings a pair of
nuclei across the nuclear chart into equilibrium via alternating neutron
capture and neutron release, interspersed with a neutron transfer. While
neutron transfer reactions lead to changes in crust model predictions, and need
to be considered in future studies, previous conclusions concerning heating,
cooling, and compositional evolution are remarkably robust.
