WILTON – Wood pellet furnaces for Academy Hill and Cape Cod Hill schools are expected to be installed by mid-April.

Silos holding up to 32 tons of pellets are being installed at the schools in preparation for the furnaces, said David Leavitt, director of support services for SAD 9.

The project was delayed last fall when the boilers were no longer available in the U.S. because the company that provided bids was bought out by a Scandinavian company. The schools are now due to receive the Austrian-made boilers that will replace oil burners. The oil burners will be kept as backup.

The system will cost $270,000 for each school, but Leavitt expects long-term savings, halving heating costs when compared with oil. One ton of pellets is equivalent to 100 gallons of oil. The schools burn approximately 19,000 gallons of oil a year now. The pellet units, which can also burn wood chips, will also heat water for each school.

A Paris Farm Sales crew from Newport worked on the Academy Hill silo last week after finishing Cape Cod Hill School in New Sharon.

The oil burners in each school needed to be replaced, Leavitt said. A decision to use wood pellets was part of the school system’s overall goal to seek alternative energy sources. If the school can purchase pellets from local mills, such as the one in Strong, it will help create local jobs and keep money local rather than sending it overseas, he said.

The wood pellet systems are the first for the district. Cascade Brook, the Middle School and Cushing School could be next, possibly using federal stimulus funds for the work. Plans for the new Mallett School also include a wood pellet system, and energy alternatives are being sought for the high school project to help reduce the reliance on oil, he said.