Maine public building switches to biomass heat

February 24, 2010

The new Autopellet boiler at Gardiner's Public Works Building

The City of Gardiner, Maine, has replaced the defunct oil-fired boiler in its Public Works building with a wood pellet boiler from Main Energy Systems.

Installed by Heutz Premium Pellet Systems, part of Lewiston firm Heutz Oil Company, the AutoPellet system is expected to cut the city council’s carbon emissions by 40 tons each year.

The city has applied for a grant from the Public Building Wood to Energy Program to cover the system.

“Although the system cost more to install than a replacement of our current system, we are looking forward to seeing substantial cost savings on fuel and maintenance in the long term, in addition to the positive impact on the environment,” said Andy Maclean, Gardiner’s Mayor.

The city is also now evaluating the rest of its public buildings to find ways to cut greenhouse gases, and is looking into more efficient lighting systems, energy efficient windows and insulation as well as greener boilers.

An open house event is being held on March 1, 2010, at the Public Works Building on Old Brunswick Road, to allow the public to see the new boiler installation and find out about switching to local, sustainable biomass fuel.

“Insightful example”

“The City of Gardiner and the City Council have set an insightful example for others who will be making similar decisions which will impact community practice for decades to come,” said Dutch Dresser, Director of Maine Energy Systems.

Bethel-based Maine Energy Systems (MESys) has been offering its Maine Eco Pellet Heating boilers, marketed as AutoPellet systems, since June 2008.

The boilers are available in capacities from 41,000 BTU/hr to 191,000 BTU/hr.

The systems are “substantially” manufactured in the US and assembled in Main under license from Austrian company ÖkoFEN, for which MESys is the northeastern distributor.

MESys has trained nearly 300 regional heating contractors to install and service its automatic wood pellet boilers.