The pioneering Grant Spira range of biomass boilers are clean, efficient and easy to use, making them the perfect alternative to anyone looking to replace an older solid or fossil fuelled heating system.
The Grant Spira is a fully automatic self-feeding and self-cleaning biomass boiler that performs much like an oil or gas boiler. Available in various outputs from 5 to 36kW, the range combines high levels of efficiency and easy installation with straightforward daily operation and low maintenance. These factors were all key for a recent large domestic installation in Hampshire.
The Price family was seeking to replace their existing heating system which comprised a log-fired boiler working in conjunction with a ground source heat pump that was powered by electricity. Feeding the existing boiler daily with logs was both a labour intensive and dirty job, which is why they opted for the Grant Spira as a replacement. And following the installation of two Grant Spira 9-36kW condensing wood pellet boilers along with adjacent pellet store and larger bulk store, Roger Price is delighted with his new heating system: “The new boiler is fantastic! It’s quiet, clean and heats the house really effectively”, he commented.
The Spira burns wood pellets that conform to the EN Plus Grade A1 standard. These premium pellets are produced from recycled or virgin timber from managed resources. They consist of compressed raw materials allowing them to deliver high combustion when burnt. Using advanced controls, the Spira regulates the amount of fuel being fed to the burner to match the heat demand of the boiler. Furthermore, with its patented technology, Spira models have an automatic self-cleaning system ensuring that the primary and secondary heat exchangers remain free of debris. Such user-friendly, low maintenance features were hugely important to the Price family who no longer have the chore of feeding their old log burner. “My advice to anyone considering buying a biomass boiler is ‘do it!’. I cannot see any downsides. Biomass is the future,” commented Roger.
Utilising the exclusive Grant turbulator baffle system, used in our award winning Vortex oil-fired boilers, the Spira uses these advanced controls to regulate the amount of fuel being fed to the burner via an auger connected to the adjacent pellet hopper. While many modern pellet boilers will lose up to 20% of the energy produced through waste gases exhausted by the flue system, appliances such as the Spira are condensing and have a secondary heat exchanger designed to capture some of this lost heat energy, thus increasing efficiency.
Spira models deliver a range of outputs making them suitable for a wide array of domestic installations. As with many Grant boiler models, the Spira is Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) approved so it allows the property owners to benefit from the newly-introduced domestic RHI biomass tariff which financially rewards them for generating and using renewable energy to heat their property.
Larger domestic installations up to 72kW – like the Price family has opted for - can also be accommodated by utilising two boilers which are separately flued with a central hopper/twin auger arrangement. Using two boilers to achieve higher outputs is very cost effective. When the boilers are combined, their precise electronic burner controls allow both units to modulate as one, down to just 25% of maximum load when the full output is not required. This, along with the extremely high efficiencies achieved, makes the Spira a unique option when considering a biomass boiler.
To compliment the Spira range, Grant also manufactures wood pellet bulk stores in various sizes from 500kg to 6 tonnes. While wood pellets can be bought in bags (typically around 10 to 15kg), if space is available a bulk store can be installed which can directly feed (by auger or vacuum system) the intermediate Grant pellet hopper supplied as standard with the boiler. This allows homeowners to buy pellets in large quantities, which is more cost effective and reduces ongoing running costs.
