Case Studies
Chalmers & co bank on biomass
Leading independent firm of Chartered Surveyors and Architects, Chalmers & Co, has recently installed a Windhager wood pellet boiler to reduce both fuel bills and CO2 emissions at its new High Street office in Haddington, near Edinburgh.
The first high street installation of its kind in the UK, suppliers of renewable energy solutions, Glendevon Energy Company Ltd installed the Windhager BioWIN, a fully automated, environmentally friendly solution with high levels of efficiency, into the Georgian building.
Previously the British Linen Bank, the old stone vault within the building was converted into a pellet store. Coincidentally, the adjacent office had a redundant hearth and flue suitable for positioning the biomass boiler.
Commenting on the installation, Jill Hardy at Chalmers & Co said, “Although the cost of installation and the boiler equipment exceeds that of a conventional gas boiler, nearly half was funded by The Forestry Commission under the Scottish Biomass Heat Scheme and the balance of the costs are covered by an interest free loan from the Energy Saving Trust. The environmental benefits are also much greater as we are not draining the earth’s finite natural resources.”
Chalmers & Co anticipate a pellet delivery two or three times a year to the office based on the size of the store and the expected demand on the boiler for heating. The small and regular shape of the 6mm wood pellets allows them to be delivered by blowing them into the stone vaulted safe via delivery feed hoses to the store from discreetly positioned filling points behind a disused set of doors on the High Street.
The BioWIN system is linked to an outdoor sensor which reads the external temperature and adjusts the heat output of the boiler in line with the weather conditions, making the most economical use of the fuel.
With a performance range of 2.9kW to 78kW, the BioWIN offers the perfect solution for all requirements and is suitable for installation in low energy homes as well as in buildings with high heat requirements such as hotels and commercial buildings.
Chalmers & Co are extremely pleased with the BioWIN system, with Jill Hardy commenting, “This year Chalmers & Co staff are looking forward to spending their second winter in the office warmed by the wood pellet boiler.”
