Windhager Biomass Warms 16th Century Tudor Towers
The remains of a Grade I 16th Century Tudor house, has recently received its first two installations of Windhager biomass heating systems.
Located near Newmarket, the estate made the decision to convert to biomass as an economical and more sustainable alternative to its previous oil heating system.
As a result, two separate Windhager biomass district heating systems, each comprising an 180kW BioWIN Excel Kaskade system were installed.
The two Windhager 180kW biomass systems were installed as an efficient and environmentally friendly replacement for the estate’s old oil boilers. The automatic feed and backup system of the BioWIN Excel boilers provide the estate with a constant and reliable heat source all year round, without the need for regular maintenance visits.
The installation qualifies for the Government’s Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) which will reward the Estate with £35,000 per year in return payments from the scheme over 20 years. As the cost of wood pellets is about 30% cheaper than oil the estate will also receive more than £16,000 per year in fuel savings for the two installations. This is a considerable difference for the estate which was previously paying extortionate amounts for its annual energy bills, with one building alone costing at least £10,000 per year to heat from its old oil heating systems.
The first of the two district heating systems was installed in a converted barn to provide efficient heating to the property, as well as many of the estate’s offices, board room and canteen facilities. Three oil boilers totalling 175kW (100kW, 50 kW and 25 kW) and a 15000 litre oil tank which were previously used to heat these spaces were removed, replacing them with three 60kW Windhager Excel boilers in a cascade format.
A further three 60kW Excel boilers were also installed in cascade in an outbuilding, replacing a total of seven boilers of mixed fuel including oil, LPG Gas and Oil Combi. This district system is now used to heat the estate, which includes an office, four domestic dwellings and other facilities.
Both systems use underground pipework to pump hot water to the connected buildings, which allowed the systems to be installed at a convenient place for the estate.
Available from 60kW to 240kW, the Windhager BioWIN Excel Kaskade system is engineered to meet the demands of properties with a significantly high annual heat demand, which also require a constant and reliable heat source. The cascade form acts as a backup system which continues to provide heat to the property should one boiler within the system need to be shut down.
Installed with an automatic suction feed, the BioWIN Excel boilers do not require daily attention and can simply be turned on and left alone to operate efficiently. Fully equipped with a stainless steel combustion burner bowl and patented self-cleaning mechanism, cleaning and maintenance is kept to a minimum, with the integrated ash container only requiring emptying as little as three times a year.
