The 53-year-old who lives with his family at Whitley, near Warrington, turned to North Wales-based Carbon Zero UK for his new biomass boiler system. Gareth Jones, managing director of Carbon Zero UK, said: “The Woodpecker 25 kilowatt boiler is the Gibson Les Paul of heating systems. It’s 95 per cent efficient and works off learn-burn wood pellets from virgin timber to provide cost-effective renewable heating.”
Radcliffe joins an impressive list of clients for the St Asaph company who have installed renewable energy systems, ranging from solar power, biomass, air and ground-source heating to rainwater harvesting, for Glyndwr University at Wrexham, Calderstones Hospital, near Clitheroe, and even a Buddhist sanctuary on the Llyn Peninsula in Gwynedd.
Man City fan Mark, from Bolton, who is married with three daughters, lives in a three-storey Grade Two-listed former farmhouse in open countryside near Warrington, an easy commute to the studios in Manchester from where he presents his daily show on Radio Six and his late show on Radio Two on Tuesday nights.
The Sony Award-winning DJ said: “After the last two very cold winters I wanted to do something about the ever-rising cost of oil.
“When we first moved in here 12 years ago it would cost £200 to fill the two big oil tanks but last winter it was £900 and they had to be filled more than three times a year.
“This does represent a big investment because the boiler is £10,000 but it has to heat a lot of house and I wanted to be able to keep my old radiators because they fit in with the property.
“It could help me save up to £2,000 a year and in that case it will soon pay for itself.
“If I can do all that, save money and save the planet then it’s a victimless crime and we’re all happy.”
Mark gets a monthly delivery of wood pellets in easy to load 10kg bags from Carbon Zero Fuels who source them from Verdo Renewables.
Jones said: “They are from UK forests and are virgin timber, not recycled, and the monthly delivery is just part of the service.
“For people like Mark biomass makes sense especially as there was a £950 payment through the Renewable Heating Incentive and because it is easily fitted to existing heating systems so you don’t have to have everything stripped out which means massive disruption and all sorts of redecorating issues.
“It’s an ideal solution but biomass is also a good option for commercial properties such as farms and rural properties where heating options like gas don’t exist.”