Boiler Plus: What do you need to know about the 2018 legislation?
Back in December 2016, the Government set out a consultation looking at the range of policy proposals to give consumers more choice over the way they heat their homes and more control over their energy bills. It was agreed that everyone should have access to a decent home that is affordable to run, comfortable to live in and sustainable for the future.
Almost a thousand people across the UK responded, representing a cross section of society including consumers and installers, manufacturers, trade bodies, and many others. Based on this wealth of feedback, new standards for domestic boiler installations in England have been introduced to address the issues of energy efficiency, sustainability and affordability.
While UK standards for boiler installations have been higher than most places in the world since 2005, many older systems are still in use meaning millions of households may be spending more than necessary to keep comfortable in their home.
In the last few years, new and better technology has come forward and so the time was deemed right to raise standards for consumer homes and expectations for installers.
Working towards a carbon neutral 2050
To work towards the energy efficiency and carbon neutral targets for 2050, the UK needs homes with energy systems that are interconnected, smart and versatile.
In April 2018, the Government introduced the new ‘Boiler Plus’ standards to improve the way many people use energy in their homes by giving them greater choice, greater control, and tangible savings on their energy bills.
The new standards apply to all new and replacement boiler installations anywhere in England. This means when households in England replace an existing boiler, or purchase a boiler for the first time in an existing dwelling, the savings will be immediate.
A key deliverable of the Boiler Plus Legislation 2018 is the explicit requirement for all gas and oil central heating systems to have time controls and temperature controls installed as part of the system, thereby giving consumers the power to achieve their desired level of heat and comfort.
What options are available?
When a gas combination boiler is installed, an additional energy efficiency measure will be required. This requirement is flexible to allow a suitable choice to be made that reflects the diverse nature of the housing stock, and the needs of the household.
The energy saving technologies that can be used to comply are:
Flue gas heat recovery systems
FGHRS recover heat from waste flue gases to preheat the cold water entering the boiler, lowering the amount of energy needed to warm the water up to the required level. Almost all modern boilers already have some sort of heat recovery built in, making condensing boilers much more efficient than older ones.
FGHRS can further increase the efficiency of these condensing boilers in most cases, delivering the same amount of heat with up to 4% less gas consumption.
Weather Compensation
Weather compensation interacts intelligently with the boiler to reduce water temperatures based on outside temperatures, which increases efficiency without compromising user comfort. This means that the boiler is better able to maintain a steady internal temperature by adjusting boiler output to account for changes in the weather. Weather compensators can be a simple external sensor feeding weather data back to the boiler.
Load Compensation
Load compensation is a common function in many smart controls and programmable thermostats. These devices measure the gap between what the internal temperature is and what the user wants it to be and modulates the boiler so that it only uses as much fuel as necessary to close the gap.
Smart controls featuring automation and optimisation functions
Smart thermostats are products that let consumers remotely control their home temperature via a tablet, smartphone or desktop for greater control over the central heating system.
Automation is a function that allows the device to automatically control the heating system output in response to programmed demand (e.g. scheduling with temperature control) or occupancy detection.
Optimisation means the device calculates how long it takes the property to reach the desired comfort level, and times the system’s operation to minimise the amount of work it has to do.
What are the target energy efficiency ratings?
The newly installed boilers will need to have an ErP efficiency rating of at least 92% or higher.
Changes to the ErP efficiency rating are part of a wider government plan known as the Clean Growth Strategy which aims to combat climate change and provide UK homes with greater comfort and lower energy bills.
Why is this new legislation so important?
The UK have exceeded the minimum standards set in the last decade as it continues to develop cutting edge technologies making it a global leader in the gas boiler market. By continuing to raise these high standards it will help to secure the UK’s strong global position.
Boiler Plus sets out to reduce fuel consumption, which not only saves money on energy bills, but also helps to reduce the resulting carbon footprint. As such the Government has taken steps to enforce higher energy efficiency by:
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investing about £3.6 billion into the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) Scheme helping to eradicate fuel poverty,
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striving to upgrade all fuel poor homes to Energy Performance Certificate Band C by 2030 to 2035,
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Improving the energy performance standards of all private homes to Energy Performance Band C by 2030.