Reduced heating bills by using pellets

Until 2012, the family house of the Borovčak family was one of many in Hrvatsko Zagorje, which used natural gas as the main energy source for heating and preparation of domestic hot water.

That year, homeowners decided to install a new pellet boiler to reduce heating bills. Besides financial savings and using locally available energy source instead of natural gas, homeowners were also incentivised by subsidies granted by Krapina-Zagorje County within the public call for encouraging the use of renewable energy sources for homeowners. Subsidies covered more than 50% of the investment, which accelerated the investment payback period.

After submitting the necessary documentation and receiving the co-financing approval letter, the selected contractor installed a pellet boiler in the basement of the family house. After that, the family only had to wait for the new heating season to start, to notice the savings in the family budget. The pellet boiler was chosen for the convenience and ease of installation because besides the installation of the boiler, no additional changes were required to other parts of the heating system.

The homeowners point out that during the entire installation process and the operations that preceded it, they did not have any problems or complaints about the installation and operation of the heating system. As positive aspects of replacing the heating system, the homeowners mention greater comfort due to the increased feeling of warmth and the ease of procurement and delivery of pellets that come in 15 kg bags. In previous heating seasons, the price of pellets was slightly lower than it is now, but even with a higher price of pellets, this family has lower heating bills and recommends pellet boilers to others who are considering it.

This best practice is issued from the activities of Work Package 4 “Preparation of instruments for replacement campaigns” of the REPLACE project. Read it now to discover many more best practices illustrating the benefits of innovative low-carbon and renewable heating and cooling systems.