Old Ballikinrain House
Balfron, Glasgow
The Percy family, of Old Ballikinrain, Balfron, Glasgow, have now lived at the residence for over 15 years. The family built up the site from a nearly derelict building to the beautiful home as it stands today. From as far back as 12 years ago they used timber from their own surrounding woodland in their wood burning stoves and log burning boilers. They soon appreciated the benefit of producing logs that were of sufficient quality to efficiently heat their own home. This was recognised by the Scottish Stove Centre in Croftamie, and they asked if logs could be supplied for use in their showroom and to their customers. A new business that is now known as woodforfuel.com was formed.
Over the years the business has grown by word of mouth, and regular customers who continue to recommend them as their fuel supplier. Due to the growth of the business, they have recently upgraded their Firewood processors, machines, increased the size of their drying sheds to allow over 1500 bags to be stored.
To increase production of their firewood, two complete arborElectrogen® biogas heat and power units have been installed with our partners Mathers. These units are powered by woodchip and generate all the electricity and heat that is used by the family in their homes and wood yard.
The installation of these market leading systems has provided the Percy’s with a number of benefits to be able to grow their business rapidly. Huge savings on what would have been increased diesel bills, electricity that is generated is used by both the upgraded drying systems but for all other uses in the building on site.
WoodforFuel founder Melvyn Percy did a lot of research before choosing the arborElectrogen®45 system. Arbor were actually the first company that Melvyn approached when considering an onsite generation installation, however, he originally wanted a bigger unit to match the site demands. Having investigated and not being impressed with another larger product, the decision was to install two smaller Arbor systems. The compact and tidy nature of the systems meant that he could get a greater energy output from the two systems in the same space.
It is clear from Melvyn that there is a real passion and understanding of the importance to achieve the highest, clean quality product for their fuel customers. The site operation is a testament to this and a perfect example of how to run a successful family woodchip business. The woodchip and logs are dried on powerful drying floors and in a purpose built kiln to establish the correct moisture content for each product. To ensure consistent quality and supply woodforfuel.com is one of a handful of suppliers in Scotland that are accredited under the Woodsure Plus scheme which is run by HETAS.
The supply of both woodchip and logs is approved by the BSL to be used in installations that generate grant income under the RHI scheme. The biomass and CHP Woodchip are available in different sizes, moisture content and it is all screened on site.
Family Business
Unlocking Renewable Revenues
Utilising Local Resource
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