Biomass heating usually involves the use of commercial energy crops in the form of fast-growing trees such as willow or poplar for woodchips or waste wood products such as sawdust, pallets or untreated recycled wood for pellets. These fuels are burned in either pellet stoves or larger scale boilers to provide heating and/or water heating.

Man has been producing energy from biomass for centuries, and in many parts of the world it is still the principle source of heat. However, modern technologies are far more efficient than open fires and an increasing range of fuels are now being utilised.

Biomass is often called 'bioenergy' or 'biofuels'. These biofuels are produced from organic materials, either directly from plants or indirectly from industrial, commercial, domestic or agricultural products.

Performance details

The performance of biomass heating for a domestic property depends upon the chosen system, usually either a space heating only, or a central heating and hot water system. The stand-alone stoves provide space heating for a room, and can sometimes be fitted with a back-burner to provide water heating. These systems have a typical output of 6-12 kW and are fuelled by logs or pellets. Boilers that are connected to a central heating and hot water system are larger with an output of more than 15kW. These systems can usually be fuelled by logs, chips and pellets.

Depending upon the size and type of system, typical costs for stand-alone room heaters are between £1,500 - £3,000 installed and for a typical 20kW pellet boiler around £5,000 installed. Running costs are based upon the type of fuel, which generally depends on the distance from the supplier, so is therefore more favourable if located in an area without gas supply.

To find out how to get biomass heating please click on our Micropower Council member links below: