The block work for the silo was completed, leaving a portion missing to enable access for sheet materials inside. Installing the auger was like a giant jigsaw puzzle, but made easy by the quality Austrian engineering. With this is place, the wooden framework was built around the auger to create a trough for the pellets to fall into. The interior surfaces of the silo were covered with 25mm Celotex insulation, a damp proof membrane and then plywood. Cutting the sheets to meet the three-dimensional geometry of the silo trough was extremely demanding and in hindsight better done using CAD software (if you happen to know someone!) The roof was constructed using layers of plywood, damp proof membrane and fireproof plasterboard. A custom built metal door was built into the silo wall.

Prior to installation there was a slight change to the design, to use a flat plate heat exchanger to connect to the heating system in the Hall. The key advantages of this were to:

• Enable separation of the pristine boiler and plant room heating system from the old heating distribution system in the Hall

• Allow for the boiler and plant room system to be pressurised whilst leaving the hall unpressurised, thereby reducing the risk of leaks in the older pipe work.

The initial installation of the boiler, buffer tanks, flue and associated components took place over the course of a week, particularly allowing for delays due to icy roads which took the Ecoliving van and installer Tim, skating into a nearby field!

There were various snagging and residual issues to be dealt with into a second week, after which the boiler controls were configured with the assistance of the manufacturer ETA in Austria who have remote access to the boiler across the internet. Once completed test-firing of the boiler took place.

Given the very cold conditions in mid-December, it was decided to delay the changes to the existing oil-fired heating system in the Hall until after the New Year. These changes, including the introduction of heating zone controls, programmable thermostats, new hot water cylinders and a full system power-flush, were carried out during January.

The Hall heating and hot water were cutover to the wood pellet boiler in late January, since when remaining activities have been centred on any remaining snags and preparing the Renewable Heat Incentive application.