Hoathly Hill Community consists of 27 houses in 22 acres of horticultural and agricultural land in West Sussex. In 2007 the community installed a renewable heating system which burns locally produced wood waste in a boiler which pumps hot water through insulated pipes to each home.

A low profile building was built to accommodate the boiler, two 4,000 litre water tanks and a storage area for woodchips. A computer was installed to monitor the emissions from the boiler and over 1Km of insulated pipe had to be laid to supply each house.

A wealth of experience can be obtained from such a project and if you are thinking of providing heat for a community or small business from renewable sources, you can get some technical advice and information on how Hoathly Hill achieved by contacting Marion Briggs at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and see how it was done at www.hoathlyhillcommunity.co.uk