Biomass Boilers
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If your boiler is due a renewal, a biomass, wood-fuelled boiler is a great idea. It provides heating and hot water, and could reduce your CO₂ emissions by up to 90%. The system does require a big overhaul of your building’s pipework, and can be quite costly, but the financial rewards are great as biomass boilers carry an immunity from rising energy prices.
How does it work?
What could I be saving?
Depending on how big your house is, if all the energy required for heating and hot water is produced from a biomass stove there could be a savid of between 3100 & 8000kg of CO₂ a year.
It is recommended that when buying the fuel for the boiler, you get it from a local source, cutting down on petrol of vehicles delivering the chips or pellets. This could save around £200 a year on fuel bills.
Grants are available for the installation of biomass boilers, but there is a lot of criteria to be matched beforehand.
What is the cost to the environment?
This option is only really viable in areas where wood stocks are plenty, but in Britain the forestry industry replenishes stocks well compared to that in tropical countries.
I want to get this. What do I do now?
1. Decide what level of installation you want – to replace your current heating installation fully or to just provide heating.
2. Get advice from a heating engineer recommended by HETAS.
3. Search for a boiler supplier via the Log Pile website and check that the boiler complies with the Clean Air Act.
4. Make sure your installation complies with part J of the safety and building regulations.
5. If you have a chimney, make sure it’s lined and have it swept at least once a year. If you don’t have a chimney, a flue will need to be installed instead.
6. Find a fuel supplier and purchase seasoned wood by volume rather than weight, because much of it is water.
7. You can use any wood, as long as it’s not painted or treated, but buy British wood from sustainable sources and not tropical hard wood.
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