As part of a refurbishment of the main house, Dunster were asked to specify a suitable biomass heating system for the house and an outdoor swimming pool. Dunster suggested including an adjacent cottage in the scheme in order to qualify for the non-domestic Renewable Heat Incentive. Dunster worked with the client to ensure that the plant room and pellet store were designed and installed in such a way as to minimise the impact on the historic fabric of the Grade II* listed property.

Fuel supply

Fuel is delivered periodically by tanker and pumped through flexible hoses into the pellet store which is sufficiently large to require re-filling only three times a year.

System design and installation

The system provides all of the heating and hot water requirements for the Manor House and adjacent cottage. As the outdoor swimming pool is only heated in summer when heat demand from the houses is low, it utilises spare boiler capacity. The heating system for the Manor is networked to the boiler in order to run weather compensated heating whilst the cottage uses a standard thermostat and time clock system linked to the boiler through an interface system designed to maximise transfer efficiency. The back-up oil boiler is controlled by the biomass boiler to provide a seamless delivery of heat should there be a boiler fault although it has not yet been required.

Benefits

In addition to the environmental benefits, heating for all areas has been substantially upgraded and the system is expected to pay for itself in around five years through a combination of fuel cost savings and RHI income.

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