By: Eugene Sabri
Submitted: 2009-05-24 23:58:43 | Word Count: 357
With natural gas becoming an increasingly rare, and therefore expensive, resource, energy efficiency is becoming an increasingly important issue for many households. The main difference between newer boilers and older types lies in their energy efficiency. Modern, high efficiency condensing boilers convert around 90% of their fuel into heat, compared to 79% for conventional types.
They achieve a large part of this efficiency increase by employing a larger, or sometimes an additional, heat exchanger. This captures much of the energy that would otherwise be lost through the flue, cooling the flue gases to the point where water vapour, which is produced during combustion, condenses, hence the name ‘condensing boiler’.
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Replacing a boiler that is over 15 years old will help you avoid expensive boiler repair costs in the future, as well as saving you over a third of your household energy bill. It could also save you when it comes to boiler repair costs, and that can add up to a lot of money! Since April 2005, all new boilers installed in the UK have had to measure up to strict new energy efficiency standards, making the high efficiency condenser boiler the most common type of new boiler installation in the UK almost overnight.
By installing more modern controls to your boiler and central heating system, you can greatly increase your energy efficiency. By law, all new boilers have to be installed with a certain amount of efficiency-saving measures, including such devices as: thermostats; new motorised valves; a replacement programmer; provision of a boiler interlock. Ask your installer for advice as to what you will need.
By installing better controls in your heating system, your boiler will be able to provide different levels of heat to different rooms, maintain a constant temperature by reacting to atmospheric changes, and turn the water heater on and off according to a pre set schedule. Used correctly and with energy efficiency in mind, modern heating controls will pay for themselves in less than five years.
