Should I change my boiler?

It’s astonishing but true, older boilers can be as little as 60% efficient and even many reasonably modern boilers are still only 70-75% efficient. The best of the modern condensing boilers convert more than 90% of their fuel into heat, compared with a wasteful 72% (or far worse) for the average boiler in UK homes. One top of the range boiler that you can consider is the Worcester Greenstar condensing boiler which has a SEDBUCK A-rating for their efficiency and because they are more than 90% efficient. Depending on the size of your house and the state of your boiler, if you change it that might save you and estimated £240 a year.

Incentive: There is now an incentive to change your boiler. The government has launched the boiler scrappage scheme where 125,000 households can get £400 towards the cost of upgrading their boiler (if G-rated or equivalent or worse) to a high efficiency A-rated one or a renewable heating technology. This will help to save in the region of 140,000t CO2 per year – equivalent to taking 45,000 cars off the road. There are currently around three and a half million homes in England with the very least efficient type of boiler (G-rated or worse).

Check if boiler is G rated.

A simple test for gas boilers is to see if it has a permanent pilot light -if it has then it is very likely to be a G-rated boiler. If it is gas fired and over fifteen years old it is likely to be eligible. If it is oil fired and over twenty five years old, it is likely to be eligible.

The clear answer is if your boiler is not an Energy Efficient boiler – SEDBUCK A-rated you should be considering changing your boiler.