Potter's Farm, Nottingham

The owners of Lambley farm decided that it was the time to consider an alternative fuel heating system for the property. The rising cost of oil combined with their desire to install a ‘carbon neutral’ system was the main factors in this decision. Having looked at all the options, they decided that wood fuel heating would be the most practical. Woodchip was available on the farm from the 300 acres of managed woodland they own and farm. A number of boilers were looked at before the owners decided that the Eco Link system would offer them the highest levels of automation. “It was always important that we had a system we could happily leave if we were too busy, or going to be away on holiday, etc.” Additionally, the farm house is to be their home in retirement and so a heating system which required a great deal of user interaction was not a viable option. They have been impressed by the level of control of their Eco Link heating system. “This is press–button stuff, simple and easy to understand. You can time to a second, heat to the exact temperature you want, and run radiators where you require them.” The Biomass Energy Boilers used by the Eco link team will cope with woodchip up to G50 and moistures of up to 30%, which means that those with their own source of wood fuel could quite easily use a hired chipper to generate fuel of this specification. This can offer some very economical heating opportunities. The owners have been amazed by how little ash is generated by the system. “When the heating is running we only have to empty the ash bin about once a month, and its useful potash for the garden.” The use of pre-insulated heat transfer mains, close to 650m in length,  heats a network of properties from one central boiler. This is well suited to biomass systems where the cost of a boiler can be far greater than that of a traditionally fuelled alternative. District heating networks with a close grouping of heated units, as in this case, can significantly reduce the capital cost per property. The intensity of heat load placed on the boiler is greater due to system diversity, allowing more efficient boiler operation. This, together with much reduced fuel cost per kilowatt hour (kWh) leads to significant savings. HEAT METERING The system at Lambley is providing heat to a series of residential tenants. In order to monitor the heat usage (in kWh) of each house heated, heat meters have been installed at the terminations. These heat meters allow tenants to be charged for their heat in pence per kWh. The boiler will generate around 220,000 kWh of renewable energy each year for Lambley House Farm, saving 44 tonnes of Carbon Dioxide per year.