Biomass to replace gas in an Asturian convent

This winter, the Discalced Carmelite Convent in Oviedo will be a more comfortable home thanks to its new wood pellet heating system. The nuns have contracted the company IDEP to replace the propane gas boilers that heated their premises with a pellet boiler, through an energy services agreement.

IDEP has carried out the project and installation and has been in charge of the financing, offering an energy services contract with a 10% saving compared to the annual heating expenditure of the convent.

The installation consists of a Firefox brand pellet boiler, manufactured in Austria, with a capacity of 50 kW. It is a fully automatic, high-performance boiler with advanced combustion regulation via lambda probe, primary and secondary air fans and flue gas extraction with variable frequency, continuous power modulation thanks to pellet dosing with variable speed, a combustion plate with an advanced programmed cleaning system, and ash extraction to external containers.

The boiler room that has been set up includes an 8-ton pellet silo, made with wooden ramps, a 1000-liter buffer tank and a variable-speed main heating pump that supplies heat to the three circuits that make up the installation.

The entire system is monitored by a home automation module with an internet connection, allowing users to view the status of all electronic components (boiler, pumps, augers, temperature sensors), historical data logs, and graphs. The module sends alerts to mobile phones in case of any system failure and notifies users of the silo's fill level.

With this installation, the Carmelite Convent becomes the first institution of its kind in Asturias to opt for a modern biomass heating system, contributing to a reduction in CO2 emissions and helping to protect the environment of the city of Oviedo.