Domestic Wood Pellet Stove Case Study

Case Study Domestic wood pellet stove and PV in Carrickfergus

Wood Pellet Stove

Summary

Ms Boyd lives in a three-bedroom townhouse in Carrickfergus, Co. Antrim. The house is relatively new-build with mains gas central heating and energy efficiency measures including cavity wall and loft insulation installed at the time of construction.

Addressing energy issues through her job and being conscious of the environmental impacts of energy use on climate change, Ms Boyd is already very energy efficient. She has taken extra steps to save energy at home and save money on fuel bills by installing energy saving light bulbs in all light fittings throughout the house. She has also installed a photovoltaic (PV) panel to generate electricity as well as the wood pellet stove to provide heat for the living room.

Installation of the PV system took around one and a half days, and the wood pellet stove was installed in one day. Commenting on the systems, Ms Boyd said: "The grant applications for the renewable installations were relatively easy and neither technology required planning permission. The installers were very professional and made the work painless for me."

How does it work?

Biomass heating

There are two main ways of using biomass to heat your home: you can use a stove to heat an individual room, or a boiler that will connect to your central heating and hot water systems. You'll need a regular supply of fuel: logs, wood chips or pellets. Pellets are a more compact form of energy so they require less storage space, and are suitable for automatic-feed systems.

Photovoltaics.

In simple terms, a photovoltaic (PV) panel uses energy from the sun to create electricity. The panel is made up of individual PV cells made from layers of a semi-conducting material. When light shines on the cell, it creates an electric field across the layers and causes electricity to flow. The more light the cell receives, the more electricity it can generate.

Key points

• Savings on fuel bills

The PV system will save around £90 per year and the wood pellet stove around £50 per year.

• Costs

The wood pellet stove cost approximately £2,000

These costs were significantly reduced by a grant from Clear Skies, plus support from NIE and Interreg.

The 0.8kWp PV system cost around £5,000

The installation attracted grants from the DTI's PV Programme and NIE.

For further information on renewable energy technologies and the grants that may be available, contact the Energy Saving Trust advice centre on freephone 0800 512 012.