Hotel saves £10,000 per year in fuel costs by switching to a carbon neutral fuel

The Mallyan Spout is a charming 20 bedroom country house in Gothland near Whitby. They recently invested in a eco-friendly Biomass Boiler to replace their expensive oil heating system. Environmentally friendly wood pellets be burnt in three 60kw Windhager Boilers to provide heat and hot water for the whole hotel.

Despite updating their oil heating system two years ago, owners Stuart Knight, Nicola Knight and Kay Bell decided that a biomass system was a must for their Grade Two Listed hotel, which dates back to 1892. Not only will they be able to save £10,000 in fuel costs each year but they will qualify for a Renewable Heat Incentive from the Government for every Kilowatt hour (kWh) of heat they generate. Not to mention the massive reduction in carbon emissions by switching from a fossil fuel wood chips.

How did they retro-fit a biomass heating system into a Grade Two Listed building? 

A log and coal store were knocked into one to accommodate the three boilers and a room adjacent to the award-winning kitchens was able to house two 1,500 litre tanks. Another small building stocks the wood pellets which power the system. Up to 11 tonnes a month are delivered in the winter, which reduces to around 5 tonnes in the summer.

Efficiently heating a building which dates back to 1892 

Working in sympathy with the existing fixtures the biomass heating system is 94.4% efficient, leaving very little compostable ash waste. Owner Stuart commented, ” If we needed to raise the temperature with the oil system it would take around an hour. Now with the biomass accumulators holding the hot water we have instant warmth.” With no disruption to the hotel it took around three weeks to install.

Life’s Energy were responsible for every aspect of the installation. An interesting point and reassuring to know all three directors, a surveyor, electrician and plumber were all very involved with every aspect of the design and installation,. It was good to hear Stuart say, ” I have no complaints at all and wish to commend the team for their standard of workmanship.”