Does energy rating on central heating make a difference?
I’m just having a new boiler installed and balked when my installer suggested putting in a boiler with a B rating for efficiency. When I didn’t see a nice bright green A rating I thought – ooh this isn’t for ecogeeks like me, no no, no! But I have just done a little research on what the difference actually is between A and B.
Building Regulations have for many years included a section ("Part L") on the conservation of fuel and power which applies to all new homes built in Britain. Since April 2002 changes to existing heating systems included a main rule for boilers - that they have to meet a minimum specified level of efficiency, rated D, based on the Government's official SEDBUK test results. But what eco and money difference does the rating make?
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The rules say that a boiler must minimally rated at D, but you’ll be pushed to find anything other than A and B rated boilers. According to SEDBUK, the saving on fuel between an A and a B is only around £8 per year. The fact is that almost all decent makes of boilers are now A rated. Some cheaper models are rated B, but that’s actually not really that bad after all. The fact is that if you have a really old banger of a boiler, like I’ve just had removed, the saving from a new A or B is around £90 a year, which means around 800kg/yr less CO2. So, whichever new boiler you go for it’s going to make a massive difference in CO2 emissions and money savings to throw out the banger.
