Biomass Boiler Systems Save on Reno/Resto Budgets

By Jim Van Valkenburgh

To be competitive, older buildings need high-efficiency boiler systems and economical heating fuel. In rural areas, biomass (dry wood chips and wood pellets) is the lowest-cost fuel available.

Historic Harrisville

State-of-the-art systems match up nicely with the financial and ecological goals of most restorations. Historic Harrisville’s restored 150-year-old mills are now heated with a Froling pellet boiler system. The owners wanted to provide their tenants with heat at the lowest overall cost. Froling Energy, Peterborough, N.H., came up with a solid plan.

Froling pellet boiler system at Stevens High

A new biomass boiler system at Conant High School in Jaffrey, N.H., now burns PDCs instead of over 20,000 gallons of fuel oil. PDCs are locally sourced, screened, dry wood chips manufactured by Froling Energy. With N.H. and Mass. thermal RECs, PDCs cost the same as buying oil at just $.80 a gallon. PDC wood chips have a 25% moisture content, are screened to the size of a matchbook, and delivered by blower truck through a 5-in. diameter pipe.

Stevens High

Other renovated buildings that are saving money by burning PDCs are Stevens High School in Claremont, N.H., and Green Street School in Brattleboro, Vt. All totaled, Froling Energy’s boiler customers in N.H., Vt., and Mass. have eliminated the burning of over 1 million gallons of fuel oil each year using wood chips or pellets.

Green Street School

Froling Energy has been installing biomass boilers throughout N.H., Vt., and Mass. for 10 years in all kinds of buildings.

 

 

 

 

Jim Van Valkenburgh

 

 

 

Jim Van Valkenburgh is VP of business development and sales at Froling Energy, Peterborough, N.H.