Property Type and Location
Fiona lives in a timber-built chalet in beautiful Capel Isaac, Carmarthenshire, West Wales. She had a solid-fuel burner with a back boiler providing heating and hot water to the house. This was fairly inexpensive as Fiona was mainly burning her own fuel in the form of logs. However, the system was not automated which meant she had to get up early every day to light the burner, and re-fueling and cleaning was quite labour-intensive. Whilst she did enjoy the benefit of being able to burn her own free fuel in the form of logs, Fiona was fed up with having to get up extra early to light the burner every morning and got tired of the constant refueling necessary to keep it going during the day.
Birds’ Hill Solution
Fiona was initially looking for an improved log burner, but had found out about wood pellet boilers and the advantages they bring in terms of automation, fuel storage, cleaning and maintenance. She found herself in a position where she was trying to weigh up the benefits of wood pellets with the obvious advantage of fuel independence that came with a log boiler.
Nick Cater from Birds Hill Biomass talked through Fiona’s options with her. In the end she opted for the best of both worlds with a Klover Bi-Fire Mid which comes with a log burner and an automated wood pellet burner. This brought the twin advantages of an automated system and the fuel independence that Fiona was used to. It is also a fine looking stove that makes an excellent feature in Fiona’s chalet
New Renewable Heating System Benefits
- Best of both worlds with an automated wood pellet burner and a log burner in one product.
- Fiona can continue benefitting from the free log fuel from her own land.
- A cleaner and more easily maintained system.
- carbon footprint down by continuing to use a renewable fuel source.
Installation
The Installation Process – Keeping costs low with a bit of DIY!
Fiona kept her installation costs to a minimum by making adjustments to the hearth according to specifications provided by Birds’ Hill Biomass. With some minor tweaks, the team were able to install the new unit into the existing flue system in a process that was completed within a matter of days.
Before and After Replaced Log burner at the Chalet
Running the System
The fully automated wood pellet burner can be programmed to provide heat in the mornings and the log burner continues to burn free log fuel from her own land.
The system is clean and easy to use and maintain.
Customer Comment:
“I’m really pleased with my new Bi-Fire heating system. Staying renewable and fuel independent was something I really did not want to sacrifice for the sake of having an automatic system but I really feel like both of these things have combined prefectly with this solution – thank you!”
Funding
The system doesn’t qualify for RHI funding but will suit clients with access to their own wood looking for the convenience of programmable features.