The Bells Hotel and Golf Club, Forest of Dean

The Bells Hotel and Golf Club located in the heart of the Forest of Dean has opted for a renewable energy solution to heat its golf clubhouse and function rooms. Faced with a thirty year old cast iron gas boiler which was beyond repair, the owners of the complex decided this was an ideal time to look for an alternative energy source to fossil fuel.

Working with Hewer FM and Hamworthy, Curt Green, the hotel manager weighed up the cost of installing a biomass option compared to a traditional gas fired boiler, taking into account the relevant government financial incentives that are available for biomass boilers.

Curt commented, “When we compared the proposals for both systems it was a no brainer. The payback period is relatively short when claiming the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) so it made good commercial sense.”

The heating and hot water for the Golf Club is now provided by a Hamworthy Herz Pelletstar 45kW biomass boiler and a 1,000 litre buffer / accumulator vessel. The compact Pelletstar is installed with an intermediate hopper that automatically feeds pellets to the boiler when demand is required. Pelletstar boilers are designed for use with wood pellets only which have better flow characteristics than wood chips. The store is able to hold up to 200kg of pellets at a time and the hotel has sourced a local supplier who will deliver the fuel as and when needed.

Rob Lane, contracts manager at Hewer FM who managed the design and installation of the project, commented, “This was our first biomass boiler installation and we were really pleased at how smoothly the project went. We have worked with Hamworthy for many years and they supported us well on this installation. We are now increasingly seeing more projects that are considering biomass boilers to help reduce heating costs and lower carbon emissions.”

To comply with the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) requirements, a heat meter compliant with Class 2 of Annex MI-004 of EU Measuring Instruments Directive (MID) 2004 was installed with the boiler. The heat meter includes a flow meter and two temperature sensors and must be capable of measuring instantaneous power (kW) and total energy generated (kWh) solely by the biomass boiler.

“In January we submitted our RHI claim for the first quarter of the biomass boiler being in use. The claim was for 42,630kW/hrs and we hope to receive £3,500 from the Government’s scheme,” Curt added.

Pelletstar biomass boilers provide practical and highly efficient heating and hot water generation using wood pellets. Available in 3 models with outputs from 30kW to 60kW the compact Pelletstar boilers are fully automatic and self cleaning for low maintenance. Offering consistent high efficiencies above 90% they present a realistic low-carbon proposition for smaller commercial buildings and those wishing to reduce their reliance on fossil fuel.

For advice on making the right choice for your renewable energy system, talk to Hamworthy; telephone 0845 450 2865, email sales@hamworthy-heating.com, or visit www.hamworthy-heating.com.