Summary
• Carpenter Oak has been using workshop stoves for several years.
• It burns around 1m³ of off-cuts per stove per week.
• An 18kW stove will heat up to 250m³.
• Using off-cuts for heating reduces waste disposal costs.
The recent sub-zero temperatures have provided plenty of incentive for wood processing companies to install a wood-burning stove in their workshops to turn off-cuts and sawdust into fuel.
Certainly, specialist timber frame company Carpenter Oak Ltd hasn’t looked back since installing them.
The company operates from a three-acre site in Totnes in Devon and employs 20 carpenters in six workshops, creating timber buildings for customers throughout the world.
All the heating in the workshops is now generated by “Greenheart” stoves, supplied by online retailer workshopstoves.co.uk. Solid wood and sawdust is burned throughout the day, with each workshop stove fuelled by a 1m³ bag of wood per week.
“From the very beginning we could see the logic of turning our waste wood into energy,” said Paul Kirkup, Carpenter Oak’s director of timber design. “We have saved a great deal of money throughout the years, particularly during times when traditional fuel costs were high.
“The stoves give off more than enough heat for the workshops and they couldn’t be easier to use – just light them in the morning and leave them to quietly die out overnight.”
Electricity generation
Now Carpenter Oak and workshopstoves.co.uk’s technical experts are looking at the next project – generating electricity though a steam boiler heated by a workshop stove. “In our work we are forward thinking and creative, so it makes sense to take our use of waste wood to the next level,” added Mr Kirkup.
The latest generation of workshop stoves is cost-effective, easy to install, environmentally friendly and can burn all types of wood waste from solid pieces of timber to sawdust – and, when conventional fuel costs, waste removal and landfill charges are taken out of the equation, they can pay for themselves within a very short space of time.
Workshop wood burners differ from the type of stoves used in homes. They have been specifically designed to burn wood off-cuts and sawdust and this is achieved through a combustion air tube running from the top to the bottom of the stove. Sawdust can’t be burned in domestic wood burners because it will extinguish the flames.
Workshop stoves are available in a range of sizes depending on the dimensions of the premises to be heated. For example, a compact 4kW Greenheart stove can comfortably heat up to 65m³ while an 18kW version delivers enough heat for up to 250m³.
A small stove for a small workshop, capable of heating an area of 56m³ costs £320 installed, while a model that can heat 252m³ would be £850.
Businesses sign up
An increasing number of timber workshops are cottoning on to the benefits. “We have been selling workshop stoves now for over five years but have seen a significant rise in demand during the past 12 months,” said Sune Nightingale, director of workshopstoves.co.uk. “Businesses are looking harder at their overheads and it makes complete sense for them to combine saving money on fuel with the environmental benefits of recycling 100% of their waste wood products. Burning wood is considered to be carbon neutral – so businesses with workshop stoves will significantly reduce their carbon footprints.
“And this could help companies win more business,” he continued. “Most tender documents include a section on environmental policies and being able to state that you recycle all of your waste by converting it into green energy could give you a competitive edge.
“During the peak in fuel prices the demand for wood off-cuts by consumers to be used as fuel for domestic wood-burning stoves rocketed – but it makes little sense to sell off all your own wood as fuel for somebody else and then have to pay higher electricity, oil or gas prices to heat your own premises,” said Mr Nightingale.
It is important to seek advice before fitting a stove to ensure ventilation and insulation are dealt with correctly. Reputable suppliers employ technical experts to help customers choose the right model and flue system to suit their particular workshops.
