How to Make Wood Chips for Biomass Boilers at Home

A wood chip boiler can be a great source of heat for your home and dry wood chips make for an excellent source of fuel

Biomass boilers are an increasingly popular method of heating your home, since they reduce annual heating costs, reuse wood chips and reduce reliance on natural gas or other non-renewable fuel sources.

But acquiring biomass fuel is the key issue for these heating systems, as well as the fuel quality. Thankfully if you own a Woodland Mills wood chipper you're one step closer to creating your own fuel.

Here's how to do it:

What are biomass boilers?

Biomass boilers convert heat from burning organic material into energy, allowing you to heat your home or building. They're a growing alternative to natural gas or electric heating systems because they use renewable resources as fuel.

Are biomass boilers good for the environment?

That's something that's being debated. While biomass boilers use a combustion process using renewable fuel sources like wood chips, these heating systems could produce pollutants.

However, there are many who see environmental benefits to this system design, especially for those who produce a lot of wood waste as a byproduct. It can be great for those living in remote places since they don't require fossil fuels to be brought in, meaning fuel doesn't have to be consumed to bring in more fuel.

What fuel do you use in biomass boilers?

Wood is the most common fuel type for biomass boilers. Wood pellets made of sawdust are a primary fuel source but another is wood chips from your Woodland Mills wood chipper. Just save you chips in a wood chip bunker, let them dry and they can be a valuable source of fuel.

Residual wood like twigs and tree branches can also be used but they should be uniform in size. Throw all your wood debris in a wood chipper first so you have a consistent wood chip pile and then use it for your biomass heating.

What's the best wood chipper for making biomass wood chips?

This will depend on the type of wood you plan on chipping. If you only have small trees and branches then a smaller model like the WC46 may be sufficient, but if you have a biomass heating system then you likely have a lot of wood debris that you're planning on chipping.

A high capacity model that's able to chip consistently will help, so we recommend the TF68 PRO or the TF810 PRO. Either of these models will produce the highest quality wood chips which you can use to heat your home and produce energy.

How do I use wood chips in a biomass boiler?

Wood chips, like those from a Woodland Mills wood chipper, can be a great biomass fuel, especially dry wood chips. Let's get into the steps of how to convert your wood chips into a resource for your wood chip boiler.

Step 1: Ensure Your Boiler is Compatible

Not all biomass boilers are wood chip boilers. Check the instructions or with the manufacturer first. Many kinds of biomass boilers only consume wood pellets and do not support fuel mixing.

Step 2: Acquire Your Wood Chips

Turn leftover tree debris on your property like fallen tree limbs, dead trees or inconvenient saplings into wood chips by processing them in your wood chipper. Models like the WC88 are great for turning dry materials into wood chips, but if you have a lot of fresh, green material then models like the TF810 PRO with Twin Flywheel will do better at that task.

Step 3: Creating Dry Wood Chips

Remember that dry, uniform materials are the best fuel source for your wood chips. The more dry they are the more fuel value they add and the better heat transfer they can achieve. Wetter chips will take longer to burn and don't achieve complete combustion as quickly.

Create a fuel storage area where your wood chips can dry and achieve a low moisture content, like a wood chip bunker. Ensure the space is adequately heated to speed up the drying process.

Step 4: Feed Your Wood Chips

Now it's time to use your wood chips to heat your home. Dump your wood chips into the fuel feeding system as needed and then use the control systems to monitor the results. If you've done it right then the heater will proceed to produce energy, keeping your house warm and your lights on.

Summary: Make Your Own Wood Chips for your Biomass Heating System

Here's what you need to do to make your own wood chips for biomass fuel:

• • Produce a lot of wood chips with a Woodland Mills wood chipper

  • Dry those wood chips and make sure they're uniform and consistent

  • Feed your wood chips into your boiler and enjoy your warm, lit home