Property Type and Location
A traditional stone farm house on the Welsh borders
The heating system at Knighton Farm Welsh Fruit Stocks was a 40-year-old coal multi fuel range. It was dirty, dusty and simply not up to the job of heating the house.
The traditional and otherwise comfortable farmhouse had always been cold and the owners would get up early every morning to stoke up the old range in time for breakfast. That meant trudging outside to the bunker to collect the coal, reloading the range, then waiting for the house to heat up, which it never did.
Tired of this labour-intense and time-consuming work, the inefficient coal-fuelled range and with a desire to leave behind fossil fuels, the family had been planning to change their heating system for some time. The system caused a lot of fine dust which more recently had become of particular concern because there was news of a new baby on the way. So enough was enough, they needed something far better for their family.
They’d heard about the Renewable Heat Incentive, a scheme that pays home owners and businesses to generate energy from renewable sources such as biomass, and decided to investigate further.
Birds’ Hill Solution
Klover Smart 120 biomass boiler-cooker, an automated and cleaner heating and cooking system
We recommended the smart and very efficient Klover Smart 120 pellet cooker to replace the coal fired range. It takes care of all their heating and hot water needs and it has given them a stylish hot oven and hotplate. The self regulating system does not require much maintenance which is essential when you have a young family.
All their radiators run off the system and the house is no longer cold! This Klover model has fully automated controls, allowing them to programme their heating and hot water supply well in advance which, at last, enabled them to get up later and to an already warm home. The system is clean and efficient, so no longer would someone have to get up early to fire up their old range and handle dirty coal. It only needs loading once a week and with its automatic firing it was as easy as gas fired systems.
New Renewable Heating System Benefits
- Automated heating and hot water system
- Cleaner and much easier to operate
- Low carbon heating and hot water through a sustainable and legal fuel source
- Rapid return on investment through the Domestic RHI (Renewable Heat Incentive)
- Free heating for 7 years plus index linked income
Installation
Installing the system was a simple job, using the existing alcove, chimney and piping.
Running the System
Running the system is easy. The Klover Smart 120 biomass boiler-cooker has fully automated controls, making it easy to plan when you want the heating on and the water hot. The wood pellets are delivered in 10kg bags to your home once a quarter, and can easily be stored in an outbuilding. The bags of pellets are far cleaner and easier to handle than the coal, substantially reducing the amounts of both work and the dirt. The self-regulating system does not require much maintenance which is essential when you have a young family. All the radiators can run off the system and the house is no longer cold!
Funding
The costs of the new boiler cooker and wood pellet fuel are fully covered by the Renewable Heat Incentive. After an upfront payment of £12,000, the couple will receive payments for 7 years through the scheme, paid in quarterly instalments. These will repay the capital in 3 years and then provide a tax-free income for 4 years thereafter. Aside from a significant and rapid return on their investment, the family now have a cleaner, greener and much easier method of heating their home.
