Energy Prices, Energy Tips

Boilers are vital to any home: they keep rooms warm, water hot and inhabitants happy.

But not all boilers are born equal. By switching to a new, high efficiency condensing boiler, you could cut your carbon footprint by nearly two tonnes and save as much as £275 a year* on utilities bills.

With our guide to the perfect boiler, your home will be warm, and your wallet full, in no time!

What’s your boiler type?

A boiler’s lifespan is usually 15 years, with some far more energy-efficient than others.

Find out how old and energy-efficient yours is by logging onto www.boilers.org.uk and typing in the boiler’s name and model number.

You can also determine what kind of boiler you have by looking at the flue (the pipe that carries the boiler’s exhaust outside the house) and what comes out of it:

• If the flue is made of plastic and releases steam when the boiler is on, you probably have a condensing boiler.

• If the flue is made out of metal and you can’t see any steam, your boiler is probably of the non-condensing variety.

Condensing boilers

Condensing boilers are the golden egg of modern home-heating systems. They’re easy to fit and tend to be highly efficient, with A-rated condensing boilers racking at least 90% efficiency ratings, compared to older boilers, which can convert just 60% of their fuel into heat*.

Because A-rated condensing boilers use a third less fuel than older boilers, they cut your heating bills and CO2 emissions by a third* - great for your savings and the planet!

And that’s why, by law, all new central heating boilers fitted in the UK must now be condensing boilers.

The 3 types of condensing boilers

Condensing boilers work for both oil and gas-heated homes and come in three varieties: regular, system and combination (combi).

1. Regular condensing boilers heat hot water and then store it in a hot water cylinder. They’re best suited for homes with family-sized central heating systems.

2. System condensing boilers are for similar-sized homes, but their heating and hot water components are already built in. Installation is quicker and easier.

3. Combination (combi) boilers combine instant hot water heating with central heating in one boiler, taking water directly from the mains. There’s no need for a hot water cylinder and by only heating up as much hot water as you need, you’ll save on costs. They suit small homes with good mains pressure.

The best boiler for you

The type and size of your new boiler will depend on many factors such as the size of your home, how well insulated it is, and the kind of fuel you use. If you’re unsure which to go for, ask a qualified installer, such as a CORGI or Competent Persons Scheme technician.

Under control

Most of us waste oodles of energy keeping our homes too hot. Correct heating controls could save up to 17% of your heating bill on your existing boiler, or up to 40% if you buy a new one*.

Keep your room thermostats set to between 18°C and 21°C and your hot water cylinder thermostat to 60°C (140F). And by lowering your room thermostats by just 1°C you could save yourself £40 a year*!

Top tip: Make sure your boiler’s working properly. Get it serviced every year to ensure it heats your home the way it should.

* All statistics are taken from the Energy Saving Trust.

With astronomical house prices and more people going to university, shared house living seems to be more popular than ever. But when that time of the month rolls round and bills need to get paid (if you're unlucky enough to have a landlord who won’t include them in the rent), the guy from upstairs who last night offered you a slice of pizza and a post-it note to help distinguish whose bottle of milk is whose, can suddenly assimilate himself into an over-zealous, miserly, tight-fisted pedant.

But I shower half as often as you do! And I only use my TV for re-runs of Lost and Top Gear.

Therefore, I propose that the gas and electricity companies take a lesson from the classic itemized phone bill, and start offering us a little more information. As a simple starting point, there must be a way the gas company can know when our boiler is being fired up, and for how long from day to day. Consequently, we will then be able to discern at what times we use it the most, and whose habits are the most costly.

Similarly, we could do the same for electricity, although this is certainly a little more complicated. Granted, when it comes to lighting, I wouldn’t want to overstep the mark by suggesting we account for every moment we flip the switch. But in this energy-anxiety climate is it really possible to overstep the mark? And someone must be able to obtain the information as to whose bulb is in whose bedroom. However, I do remember learning one thing in physics class which could throw a sizable spanner into the works: electricity runs in a circuit right?

Still, even if our electricity bill was just a little more detailed, maybe we would be able to recognize whenever the big juice-pullers, such as the TV, are switched on. Subsequently in this case, poor Eleanor, who only allows herself to watch shows before the watershed, can have her payment subsidised by the rest of us who watch later into the night; until our retinas are satisfactorily branded by images we try and try to forget.

But is this really too far? Well, finger-print sensors on each switch to show who has a habit of flicking things on and not turning them off again may be. But I must admit, when living in shared accommodation, it does seem a little pointless to try your darnedest to think ‘shutdown’ instead of ‘standby’ when down the hall, Jerry is blow-drying his hair, watching the news and listening to The Wombats with multi-wasting abandonment. And I’d love to bring that up next time I offer him a slice of margherita.