People often ask us what a biomass heating system is and are sometimes surprised to hear that it is simply a system of wood, most commonly in the form of logs or wood pellets, which will power your domestic or commercial central heating and hot water systems.
The boilers can normally be fitted easily to your existing central heating system without too much disruption.
There are a number of different appliances that are suitable to provide central heating and domestic hot water heating using either logs or wood pellets:
• A pellet boiler is as efficient as a gas or oil boiler. They can be fitted into a utility room, garage or outhouse and being fully automatic work in exactly the same manner as your gas or oil boiler. The boiler will normally have an integrated fuel bin for wood pellets which can be filled manually or if you would like to store a larger volume of pellets you can have a separate fuel store that will be filled by a delivery tanker similar to an oil delivery.
• Log gasification boilers are fitted into a garage or outhouse and are also as efficient as a gas or oil boiler. They are batch fed by hand, which is a good choice if your have your own source of logs. They are normally backed up by a secondary heat source.
• Pellet boiler stoves are fitted in your front room and in the main are as efficient as a gas and oil boiler. They generally have a split of 80% of the heat into the central heating system and 20% of heat is emitted into the room it is situated within. The fuel tanks in these are normally small and need to be filled on a regular basis. A secondary heat source is normally installed as a back up.
• Wood log boiler stoves in the main are less efficient as a gas and oil boiler but there are some on the market that are almost as efficient such as the Verner 13/10. There is also a split of normally 60% heat to the central heating and 40% into the room it is situated. Again there are some on the market such as the Verner 13/10.2 that are well insulated and have a split of 88%/12%. These are hand fed like any traditional wood burning stove therefore a secondary heat source is normally installed as a back up.
There are Government incentives to help with the installation costs of a biomass heating system. The boilers need to be MCS approved and have emission certificates. Not all technologies are accepted on the scheme and on the UK mainland wood log boiler stoves are not eligible but the other 3 technologies above are.
What is Biomass Fuel?
Biomass is defined as ‘material, other than fossil fuel or peat, which is, or is derived directly or indirectly from, plant matter, animal matter, fungi or algae’. Examples of fuels that often meet this definition include (but are not limited to):

• Wood logs, chips and pellets
• Straw and agricultural residues
• Food waste
• Paper/ pulp residues from the paper manufacturing process
• Biomass residues from the food processing industry
• Sewage sludge

what is biomass

Why Choose a Biomass Boiler?
Cheaper fuel than:
Oil
LPG
Electricity

Environmentally friendly
Uses renewable fuel
Practically carbon neutral
Tree planting benefits wildlife

Government incentives
Domestic RHI – Renewable Heat Incentive – 7 years incentive for MCS installations1
Non Domestic RHI – Renewable Heat Incentive – 20 years incentive for MCS installations2

Flexible installation solutions
Provides heating and hot water 365 days a year
Link to existing heating systems
Existing boiler remains as a back up
Connect to solar and ground or air source heating

1. Source https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/environmental-programmes/domestic-renewable-heat-incentive
2. Source https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/environmental-programmes/non-domestic-renewable-heat-incentive-rhi