Baydon Hole Farm

Background

The farmhouse and outdoor swimming pool, at Baydon Hole Farm, had been heated by a 100,000Btu (30kW) oil fired boiler located inside the house. This boiler provided both heating to radiators and domestic hot water and pool heating in the summer, typically costing around £3,500 per annum to run.

This high running cost made the owner consider the use of woodchip, as a heating fuel, obtained from his own woodlands.

After undertaking extensive research into the boiler types available he decided to install a KSM unit.

Solution

Having tested a number of different chippers the owner bought a trailer mounted unit with PTO. It was decided that woodchip would be stored in a barn located adjacent to the boiler house, which itself is located approximately 50m away from the farmhouse.

The boiler installed was a KSM 275-18F with a 4m³ hopper. This boiler feeds an insulated pipe system that has been installed in a trench running from the boiler house to the farmhouse. The hopper is filled by a tractor equipped with a bucket; during the winter approximately 2m³ of chip is consumed weekly. To date the owner has virtually reduced his heating bill to zero.

Installed Boiler Type

KSM Multistoker 275-18F with 4m³ Hopper

This unit is fed from the hopper located externally to the boiler house, with the boiler ash bin mounted on a plinth inside. The primary fuel used is wood chip, although wood pellets, rape cake, wheat, barley or oats could be used.

The boiler is also equipped with a moving floor heath to ensure any clinker build up is avoided when grain is burnt.