One of Europe’s leading equestrian training centres has chosen Leeds-based Bio-Nordic to design and install a decentralised energy network based around a modular Ariterm system.
At his Yorkshire Riding Centre (YRC) headquarters, Chris Bartle – Olympic dressage specialist and current National Coach to the 2012 Olympic Gold medal-winning German Three Day Event Team – fired up his new biomass heating system just before Christmas 2015.
Two brand new Ariterm (www.ariterm.co.uk) Biocomp PX 60kW wood pellet boilers, supplied by Ariterm of Kalmar in Sweden, are at the heart of a group heating network at the riding centre, providing clean energy and heat to several of the centre’s buildings, including the well-appointed Courtyard Guest House, its adjacent accommodation block plus other lodges and chalets.
The Ariterms are connected to a 2400 Litre pre-insulated thermal accumulator vessel to provide a central heat store. Each linked building is provided with automatic zone controls and heat metering to individually supply and monitor heat depending on each building’s needs. Thermostatically-controlled instantaneous domestic hot water is also provided from the thermal store via a high flow heating coil.
The system also incorporates text and email based remote monitoring, including biomass fuel level sensing.
The new Ariterm-driven system has replaced four separate heating oil fossil fuel boiler plants plus multiple LPG and electric domestic water heaters which existed previously at the YRC.
Designs were agreed in mid-September 2015 and installation of the group heating network started shortly afterwards.
“Roughly a third of our clients are residential in some way, and after a day’s riding it is wonderful to return to a warm and inviting room” said Bartle, who will be coaching the German eventing team at the Rio Olympics in summer 2016. “We needed to replace our old oil-fired boilers, and Bio-Nordic’s solution has future-proofed our heating system while also making long-term financial sense.
“Bio-Nordic’s attention to detail and project management while the new heating system was being installed was excellent. I would definitely recommend them, and also that other riding centres look into a modular biomass heating system like the one we now have.”
“Chris was an exemplary client” said Bio-Nordic Director James Haigh. “He was personally involved both from a commercial and a technical standpoint, and has directed the design of the YRC’s new group heating network with his future plans for the complex in mind.
“YRC is off-grid and previously depended on fossil fuels to warm historic buildings which, by their nature, are hard to heat. The riding centre’s new Ariterm-powered system is designed to be developed further. It is a small example of what you might call ‘cluster heating’, where single boilers are put to work at peak performance in series to achieve great efficiency and higher heat outputs.
“We also assisted the YRC with the RHI application as part of the process.”
In its subsequent written response to the riding centre’s RHI Scheme application, Ofgem praised YRC for its “very high standard of application.”
“With Bio-Nordic’s support, our clients are able to achieve acceptance by the RHI very quickly these days” said James Haigh.
Located in the secluded North Yorkshire village of Markington, a few miles north of Harrogate, the YRC has offered a first-class training getaway for horses and riders from around the world for over fifty years.
Under the direction of Chris Bartle and his sister Jane Bartle-Wilson, herself also a former Olympic competitor, the centre offers a variety of accommodation options to those who choose a residential option as part of their visit.
