Biomass boiler FAQ

Wood chips, sawmill waste, bark, sawdust and shavings, straw and corn stover (with a bale feeder), hulls and husks, and wood pellets. The chain grate stoker moves the fuel through the fire, so wet, dirty and mixed fuel burns without jamming. Drier fuel gives you more heat per tonne.

Yes. Green chips straight off the pile are what most of our customers burn. Very wet fuel lowers the output, so we size the boiler for the fuel you actually have.

The grate carries it off the end into the ash hopper, and an auger takes it to an ash bin. Automatic soot blowers keep the boiler tubes clean. You empty the bin; you don't rake the firebox.

We have 15 standard models from 1 to 20 million BTU, and we build custom sizes from 500,000 to 27 million. Send us a year of heating bills and what fuel you can get, and we size it for you. See the model lineup.

It depends on what you burn now and what your biomass fuel costs. Many of our customers cut their heating cost about in half. The savings calculator gives you a number for your own fuel and prices in two minutes.

Often, yes. About half of our systems are sold with a grant or a tax credit. Most programs want you approved before you order, so ask early. See grant programs.

Usually, yes. The boiler ties into your existing hot water loop, or ducts into the grain dryer you already have. Your old boiler or burner can stay as backup.

Most systems take 1 to 3 months to build, depending on size. Install time depends on the site.

Our crew, or your local contractor with our support on the phone and on site.

Not much. The controls meter the fuel to match your heat demand, set the air, run the grate and clear the ash. You run it from the touch screen on the boiler or from your phone, and it texts you if something needs a look. Keep the fuel supply topped up and empty the ash bin.

Regular checks of the grate, fans and augers, emptying the ash, and a yearly look-over. We'll walk you through it at start-up, and with your OK we can log in from our shop to check how it's running.

Yes. Gearboxes, motors, sensors, drives and grate parts sit on our shelf in Headingley, Manitoba, and ship from there. If a part isn't on the shelf, we can make it in our shop.

Where there's a dealer or rep, they're your first call. Behind them, we log in to your controls with your OK, ship parts from Headingley, or come out. See service and support.

Yes. Our standard boiler vessels carry the CSA and ASME marks, and our chain grate stoker carries the Intertek mark. If your project needs CRN or another listing, tell us at the quote stage and we build to it.

These are long-life systems: heavy steel, solid grate bars and parts you can still get. We still service units from our BlueFlame Stokers days.

Our shop is on Road 63 North in Headingley, Manitoba. We sell across Canada and the United States, and 200+ of our biomass systems are running across North America. Find a dealer.

Wood and crop waste grow back, so heat from them is widely counted as low-carbon, and many grant programs treat it that way. A multi-cyclone on the exhaust catches fly ash before it leaves the stack.