The key benefits of district heating
Have you wondered just what district heating can mean to you? Treco has installed a number of projects using this technology and some of our successful projects include a luxury complex, a country estate, a wedding venue and a private estate as can be viewed on our case studies page. We will give you an overview of the advantages of district heating should you still be undecided on embarking on this exciting journey.
Fuel cost and CO₂ savings magnified
Biomass per se offers CO₂ savings of 96% and fuel cost savings of 50%-80% versus fossil fuels. District heating schemes, as they increase in size, become progressively more cost effective over individual boilers.
A district heating scheme can be split into zones, with clusters of houses and buildings supplied by a single boiler, enabling large savings in installation and operating costs, as well as providing flexibility in multiple site options and operations.
Where the installation can be on a scale of 50-400kW, large energy savings can be multiplied across multiple units, buildings or zones. Including a biomass boiler, with 96% lower emissions than oil, in a community district heating scheme can be highly beneficial to a new build development in all aspects from fuel cost reductions, financial savings, incentive and overall reduction in carbon emissions.
Money for green heat
A district heating is basically where a single boiler serves more than one dwelling (i.e., with more than one council tax account) or separate buildings that are spread out and positioned away from each other. Such installations are deemed as commercial and eligible for the commercial (or non-domestic) Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) payments, index linked, for 20 years.
Metering
Biomass district heating allows commercial landlords to easily monitor heat usage via heat meters. The actual heat usage within each building or flat can be separately measured, which also means delivered heat can be more accurately and easily billed for.
Control And safety at the point of use
Within a district heating scheme, a centralised boiler sends hot water to other buildings. A Heat Interface Unit (HIU) in each of these buildings gives all of the control and features at the point of use as you’d have with the traditional domestic boiler system, but in a far simpler package.
They are also pre-set and designed to conform to the RHI regulations on meter placement. This forms the basis of easy measurement or billing for the heat used.
Benefits of HIU
With combustion only occurring in a single point within a group of several buildings, the occupants or tenants in each are given a safe environment in which to live or work, with no annual safety checks, carbon monoxide alarms or health and safety provisions or appliances at the point of use.
This makes biomass district heating advantageous for use in care homes, social landlords, hospitals, schools or any other applications where the owners, Energy Services Company (ESCO) or maintenance provider may have a legal duty of care and safety to building occupants.
Lower costs
In addition, district heating offers a range of administrative benefits, time and cost savings, as well as huge potential maintenance and servicing advantages.
Remote control
Remote meter reading and heating control by web based applications or GSM are possible, as are remote diagnostics to ensure reliable operation. This can provide landlords (who have multiple tenanted properties) with ease of management, particularly if their properties are in different geographic locations. This can offer time and financial savings from not having to travel to remote locations.
What now?
If you are considering a district heating system, why not give us a call and we’ll be more than happy to help advise you further.
All of the systems within our range can be used for district heating, so far more information on these please refer to the biomass boilers page.