How energy efficient is your boiler? If it’s older than ten years, the answer is probably not very. It may seem like an unnecessary expense, but upgrading to a new A-rated boiler could save you up to 35% a year on gas bills, plus hundreds more in repair costs.
There are no hard and fast rules for when you should replace your boiler, but once the repair costs start adding up it makes a lot of financial sense to invest in something more reliable. Repair bills of over £350 and repeated breakdowns could be signs that it’s time to take the plunge.
Your boiler accounts for 60% of your energy spend throughout the year. So even it your old standard-efficiency boiler isn’t causing any major hassle just yet, switching to a new condensing boiler will bring some big savings – as well as cut carbon emissions.
As a guide, you can expect to save 30% on heating costs, so dig out an old gas bill to see the difference it could make. Depending on how inefficient your current boiler is, Energy Saving Trust figures reveal you could save up to £300 a year – meaning your shiny new boiler will have paid for itself in around eight or nine years.
The Energy Saving Trust website gives estimated cost savings based on replacing an old boiler with a new A-rated condensing boiler and full set of heating controls, in a gas-heated semi-detached home with three bedrooms. Here are the rest of the figures:
| Old boiler rating | Yearly cost saving | Yearly CO2 saving |
|---|---|---|
| G (<70%) | £300 | 1,220 kg |
| F (70-74%) | £200 | 810 kg |
| E (74-78%) | £150 | 610 kg |
| D (78-82%) | £105 | 420 kg |
If you don’t know the efficiency rating of your boiler, then click here to find out
How a condensing boiler works
The problem with standard-efficiency boilers is that a lot of the heat they produce can escape along with the exhaust gases. In contrast, condensing boilers can be up to 90% efficient – meaning over 90% of the energy originally in the gas is converted into home heating or hot water.
How? Condensing boilers use the waste heat in the flue gases to pre-heat the water entering the boiler, reducing the work that the boiler has to do. The water vapour produced condenses and passes out through a drain.
Choosing the right boiler
Our expert team have decades of plumbing experience and work to the same high standards as the rest of the business. We work with market-leading boiler brands and will always offer the right boiler for the size of your home and the number of people living there.
At EvoEnergy we size our boilers by the number of radiators in the property so be sure to check how many there are so we can help you choose the right boiler.
We’ll be happy to talk you through all the options when you get in touch, but the information here should be a good starting point.