Case study
Loyton Lodge, Devon
200kW woodchip boiler with 5,000 litre accumulator tank
Loyton Lodge is an exclusive, rural retreat at the centre of a world renowned shooting venue on the edge of Exmoor. The lodge sleeps up to twenty guests with a high heating and hot water demand, particularly in winter during the shooting season.
There is also the Estate House, cottages and a shool lunch room all supplied by the district heating network. The properties were previously heated by a combination of oil and woodchip boiler that was inefficient and expensive to run. Dunster were asked to examine the existing system and advise on options to improve reliability and cost. Dunster recommended decommissioning the old woodchip boiler and replacing this with a new ETA HACK 199kW woodchip system eligible for the Renewable Heat Incentive.
Fuel supply and chip handling
Woodland from around the estate is harvested and seasoned prior to chipping by an external contractor directly into a Dutch barn. Chipping is undertaken annually and has the advantage of being sited well away from the lodge and its guests. Fuel is then periodically loaded into a trailer and transferred to the fuel store where it is tipped through a sliding roof into a semi-subterranean fuel store. The system is expected to use around 100 tons of woodchip per annum.
System design and installation
The system was designed to satisfy 100% of the heat and hot water demand across all properties connected to the district heating network. Due to the high demands of running an exclusive hotel Dunster installed the existing 150kW oil boiler as a backup boiler in the main plant room. This was configured in such a way to both provide an automated back-up and to deliver peak load heat should heat requirements in a very cold winter exceed what the biomass system can deliver on its own.
Dunster also upgraded the control system and heat transfer pumps to ensure greater efficiency and higher levels of comfort through the use of weather compensated heating.
Benefits
The project has brought substantial environmental and financial benefits to the estate.
Download Loyton Lodge case study
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