Bristol-based Robbins Timber is an independently-owned specialist timber merchant with a history stretching back over 140 years. Today, Robbins distributes timber products and sheet materials, as well as engineered and modified products.
Besides holding a vast range of timber profiles in stock, the company also provides a fully bespoke and flexible machining service, fulfilling orders for one length or sheet, right through to full loads of timber products.
Robbins distributes both nationally and internationally to a wide customer base ranging from DIY enthusiasts to major contractors and merchants and, in addition, the business also specialises in the supply of timber and ply products to the marine industry. The factory’s extraction system had been upgraded and optimised several years ago with the retrofit installation of an Ecogate® energy-saving system.
“At the time, although we decided against replacing the filter unit, installing the Ecogate® system was certainly a game changer,” says director Ben Bagnall. “As well as enjoying the promised savings on our electricity bills, the noise levels emanating from the huge fan were also significantly reduced, making the shop floor a much more agreeable space to work in.”
Fast forward to 2025 and, with the old filter unit having now reached the end of its useful life, Ben made contact again with Ian Rayner, sales manager for Extractly Ltd and Ecogate in the UK. Having been involved with the earlier Ecogate® installation, Ian was no stranger to the system: “The filter unit and main fan were still in a serviceable condition when we originally fitted the Ecogate® system,” says Ian Rayner, “although the main fan had become something of a ‘sledgehammer-to-crack-a-nut’ once extraction was being controlled and optimised with Ecogate® extraction-ondemand technology.”
As a replacement, Extractly has installed a new Aagaard ATEX chain filter, with the capacity to clean up to 34,000 cubic metres of dust-laden air per hour. Previously, dust and wood waste was drawn from the factory by a powerful 75kW fan, then blown through the filter unit.
“Placing the main fan on the ‘dirty side’ of the filter unit generates significant noise as waste passes through it,” says Ian Rayner, and the waste can potentially reduce the life expectancy of a fan.”
The new system has a 55kW fan unit, which, when compared with the old one, delivers increased extraction volume and pressure, as well as saving up to 20kW per hour when it’s running at full speed. Extractly has installed the new fan on the ‘clean side’ of the filter unit, drawing waste material directly from the factory into the filter unit. Now handling just clean air, fan life is extended, maintenance requirements are reduced, and the additional inclusion of a discharge silencer further reduces noise levels.
Filtered waste collects in the base of the Aagaard 3+1 filter unit, and a drag chain continually gathers it to the rotary valve where it’s discharged, pressure-free, to a 15kW transport fan and automatic diverter that controls delivery of waste to either one of Robbins’ two waste containers.
Internally, Extractly installed a new control panel and rewired the original Ecogate® GreenBox-12 system to control the new extraction system. All the Ecogate® motorised dampers and system wiring, and most of the internal ducting, with some judicious tidying up in places, were left unchanged.
One important new addition, however, was the installation of an Explosion Isolation Valve in the main duct. In the event of an explosion in the filter unit, the valve prevents the effects of a pressure wave and flames from travelling through the ductwork and into the factory. “Extractly never compromises on safety,” Ian explains, “and to comply with ATEX regulations, we always advise the inclusion of these valves.”
“From quotation through to commissioning, we were very impressed with the professional way in which Extractly’s team went about the job,” Ben Bagnall concludes, “and we are now enjoying an even quieter factory and finally realising the maximum energy savings from our Ecogate® installation.”
