At the moment the payments from the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) are very generous, they are index linked, paid for 20 years and can pay for a biomass boiler installation in well under five years, thereafter they form a useful additional income stream.

For example a 100kW boiler used for the ‘national average’ of 1314 hours a year can earn you £10,900pa in RHI payments and with wood chip half the cost of oil (per kilowatt hour of heat) there are massive savings on fuel to be enjoyed.

However there is no doubt the RHI will fall, just as the Feed in Tariff did, as more people take up the opportunity to cut their energy bills and create a new income. As with the FiT the early birds will get the best returns and the highest payments.

A biomass boiler can also halve your heating costs as the fuel is much cheaper than oil or LPG.

You can use your own wood supply as logs or woodchip and get additional grants for managing your woodland.

Some biomass boilers can be hassle free with automatic fuel loading and some are able to burn a variety of fuels giving you flexibility in the future. Biomass fuels include wood pellets, chips and logs, straw, miscanthus or other baled material, waste wood like pallets, and even carcases.

There are a confusing number of different boilers and it is important to get some experienced advice early in the process, for example whilst logs may seem the cheapest and simplest fuel do you want to be manually loading the boiler two or three times a day? If you want wood chip or pellet can you get a large enough delivery vehicle to your fuel store to make it economical, and what size boiler should you choose?

Greenthinking supply a range of boilers and are not tied to one manufacturer so you get the boiler and system that is best suited to your situation.

For free advice and information on 01823 680751 or visit one of their free open days.