Wood Heating

What is Wood Heating?

Wood heating is the most widespread form of renewable energy production in Europe. For centuries, wood heating has been used to provide effective heating on demand from a locally sourced fuel.

Significant advances have been made in wood heating in modern times. The development of automated control log heating systems has resulted in the availability of extremely efficient and user friendly systems. The development of automatic fed and controlled systems, has enabled wood in particle form (chip or pellet) to be used in a similar manner to liquid fossil fuels such as oil or gas.

Wood chip or pellet fuel may be periodically delivered into the wood chip heating system store from whereon it is fed into the boiler in response to the heating demand of the building. Modern wood chip and pellet boilers are fully automated, extremely efficient, clean and reliable, and rival fossil fuel boilers in terms of convenience.

These technological advances and the low cost nature of wood fuel has led to a rapid increase in the use of wood heating in mainland Europe over recent years. Wood fuel has proven to be an effective, renewable and low cost alternative to fossil fuels and has provided access to a locally sourced, secure form of fuel , with many spin-off benefits for local economies. In general this development has taken the form of log and pellet heating for single domestic homes and wood chip heating for larger buildings (or pellet fuel where wood chip fuel is not available locally).

The growth of wood heating on continental Europe has demonstrated its potential in the UK, which has a significant wood fuel supply available (particularly concentrated in Scotland). The result has been increased growth in the uptake of wood heating within domestic and commercial buildings in recent years and a bright prospect for the future.

Wood Chip Fuel

Low value timber products may easily be converted into the valuable heating product of wood chip fuel. This requires the low tech. processes of air drying (leaving the timber stacked for a number of months in the open air) to a suitable moisture content and there-after chipping to a suitable particle size.

Wood chip fuel can be an extremely low cost source of heating. If delivery costs are minimised (ensuring supply is local and adequate wood chip storage on site) and handling costs are reduced (effective design of the fuel reception/storage system) substantial cost savings can be made against conventional forms of heating.

Wood chip fuel may be sourced by producing in house (particularly suitable for country estates etc) or by buying in from a local supplier. Highland Wood Energy have assisted numerous wood fuel suppliers become established in various regions across Scotland. These suppliers are currently producing fuel for their own consumption and supplying customers in their local area. Contact us for advise or assistance with establishing your own wood chip fuel supply or for assistance in finding a local supplier.

Wood Pellet Fuel

Wood pellet fuel is made from compressed dry wood sawdust and is an easily transportable, dense and homogenous form of wood fuel.

Pellet fuel is particularly suitable for single domestic homes (where wood chip fuel is not as practical) and for larger buildings in areas where wood chip supply is not available.

In contrast to the bulkier wood chip fuel, wood pellet may be economically transported trans nationally and internationally. Consequently, although the nearest large scale manufacturer of wood pellet fuel is currently in Northern Ireland, imported fuel is readily available as a cost effective alternative to fossil fuels. Wood pellets is available for bulk delivery, or for purchase in smaller 15kg bags.