Condensing Boilers

 

From 1st April 2005 building regulations changed to reduce the amount of unregistered people carrying out gas work.

New boiler installations are required to be condensing boilers. There are a few exceptions but not many. You can still get a standard efficiency boiler fitted, however, from 2007 when selling a property you are required to have a sellers pack. If your boiler is not a high efficiency type then you may have difficulty selling your property.

As part of this pack you are required to produce a certificate from Gas Safe / CORGI to show that an appliance has been fitted correctly. If an appliance has not been fitted by a Gas Safe / CORGI registered engineer then the installer will not be able to register your appliance and therefore you will not get the certificate.

As part of the new regulations you are required to have building consent to have a gas boiler fitted.

 condensing boiler installation

However, if your installer has completed the energy efficiency course then the installation can be self certificated, saving the customer money.  Naturally at Aura Gas we are able to self certificate all our installations.

 

What is a condensing boiler?

condensing boiler savings

In basic terms a condensing boiler uses the heat that would normally be lost up a flue to produce extra heat making the boiler much more efficient.

They come in both combi and conventional boilers. A top of the range boiler would be over 90% efficient. So with every £100 of gas used over £90 is used effectively.

For more on the efficiency of boilers visit www.sedbuk.com

Why the change?

As we all know there are massive concerns over the pollution put into the atmosphere. As part of the government’s commitment to reduce emissions they have brought in new legislation. Whilst these boilers have been available for over 20 years, approximately 5% of installations have been condensing. The requirement is now that 95% must be of the condensing type.

 

FAQ’s

  • As with all new technology the early boilers were extremely unreliable but the newer ones are just as good as a standard efficiency boiler.
  • Unfortunately the costs of these boilers are more expensive, both for the boiler and for the installation. This is due to the increased technology / components and the installation being more involved.
  • Plumbing is a problem with condensing boilers as the water vapour in the flue products creates a fog. That is why the flue position needs to be carefully considered to ensure it’s not a nuisance. As part of this, an existing boiler position may have to be relocated to comply with the current regulations.