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Conventional
Boilers Many
installations in the home comprise of a conventional wall mounted
boiler, these typically achieve an efficiency rating of around 70%.
However, there is still room for improvement here as we will see
later a condensing type boiler can add around 15 SAP points to your
home's efficiency rating, which could well mean that just this one
change in your home's heating system could place your property in a
higher band for energy efficiency. Understanding
Gas Boilers for the Home You
don't need to be a plumber, heating engineer or Corgi Registered
boiler installer to understand what central heating boiler you have
at home. Here is some advice about the most common types of
installation of Gas Boilers that may be fitted in your home. Old
Vs New Boiler - Gas Boilers using Natural Gas or LPG As
described above a back boiler is not very energy efficient, indeed a
conventional regular wall mounted boiler that supplies hot water to
a hot water cylinder achieves an average energy efficiency. Why? A
boiler serving a hot water cylinder has to heat a large volume of
water in the cylinder which, on some days may not be used. New
Condensing Combi Boilers are highly energy efficient. This is
because they only heat the amount of water you require "on
demand" - thus there is less use of energy and less waste. In
addition, condensing boilers are very efficient and burn fuel more
efficiently, so your home can be heated for less money.
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 This
Gas Fire is fitted with a back boiler at the back of the fire.
By removing the flap at the base the controls are accessible
underneath, the boiler is situated behind the wall under the
gas fire. This type of central heating system is less
efficient than a conventional wall mounted gas boiler
installation.
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 The
controls for the back boiler are usually below the
conventional gas fire. Quite often this type of boiler has a
permanent pilot light, for ignition purposes to fire the
boiler. The pilot light is on day and night, burning fuel and
adding to your gas bill.
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Conventional
Boilers
These
are usually more efficient than a back boiler, but some may have a
permanent pilot light visible even when the boiler is off, thus
using gas when not in use. Like Back
Boilers they provide hot water to a cylinder.
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 This
is a conventional boiler. The appearance is quite similar to a
Combi Gas Boiler except Combination Boilers do not have a
separate Hot Water
Cylinder - see below. This type of boiler is generally
more energy efficient than a back boiler, but not as efficient
as a Condensing Boiler - most boilers of this type achieve
around a 90% thermal efficiency rating when compared to say a
typical back boiler rating of 65% for thermal efficiency.
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Condensing
Type Combi Gas Boilers
These
are the most efficient types of gas boiler available today.
Typically a wall mounted appliance of this type will have an energy
efficiency of around 95%. This is a significant improvement over
conventional gas appliances. Typical Domestic
Mains Gas Boilers manufacturers to look for are, Malvern Boilers,
Baxi, Buderus, Remeha Avanta Range, Atmos Heating Systems, & Worcester
Bosch to name but a few. Look for an 'A' Rated Condensing Gas
Boiler. If you decide to update your gas boiler always use an
approved CORGI registered installer for your boiler.
You can
save up to a third on your home heating bill by installing a boiler
of this type.
Incidentally,
by law new gas boilers fitted in England and Wales must now be high efficiency condensing boilers,
and TRV's (Thermostatic Radiator Valves) fitted to radiators where
required.
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Hot
Water Cylinders - Basically
these are a copper cylinder which is usually encapsulated in a Hot
Water Cylinder Jacket or Spray Foam Insulation. The more
cylinder insulation you have the more energy efficient your hot
water system will be.
Some
examples are shown below of typical installations of both types of
hot water cylinder jacket types. If you have a jacket type
insulation around the cylinder consider adding another jacket around
the cylinder insulation if it is 25mm or less. If you do not have a cylinder
thermostat consider having one fitted. It will save you
money on your energy bills and pay you back in a short time. |
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 This
is a typical jacket type cylinder insulation for your Hot
Water Cylinder. See the Hot Water Cylinder page for
information on improvements to your Hot Water System.
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Further
improvements and energy savings can be made with these low cost recommendations.
See also Energy Saving
measures.
These
include:
Finally,
if you are a Commercial
Energy or business energy user find out more about switching
your energy supplier for a cheaper rate at : Switch
Energy Suppliers for Gas
and Electricity.
Also find out ways to reduce your energy costs for commercial
energy users at Business
Energy Saving
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Looking
for Energy Advice for your Home? A Domestic Energy Assessor
can provide free advice about heating your home, including gas
boiler installations, as well as providing an energy certificate.
Find an assessor in your local area:
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