Using December 2013 fuel prices, biomass energy from a modern condensing biomass boiler costs around 4.3 pence per kilowatt hour (kWh).
This means that for a property with an annual heat demand of 20,000 kilowatt hours, the annual heating bill will be £860. This compares well to heating oil (comparable figures are 6.4p/kWh or £1,280 per year) and LPG (8.6p/kWh or £1,720).
Biomass wood pellet fuel costs around £210 per tonne (December 2013) including VAT and delivery. Although these savings in heating bills are significant, they are overshadowed by the amount of Domestic RHI tariff payments which can be claimed if you install a biomass boiler.
The Domestic RHI tariff for biomass boilers at the introduction of the Domestic RHI scheme in April 2014 was 12.2 pence per kilowatt hour of renewable heat energy generated and used.
In this example of a biomass boiler generating 20,000 kilowatt hours of heat energy, the annual Domestic RHI tariff would be £2,440 making a total annual saving of £3,300 compared to using LPG.