From the 6th April 2018 the legislation around heating manufacture and installation in England is changing. Introduced by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), the new Boiler Plus legislation will apply to retrofit and new installations in England only (new build is excluded).
Its objective is to raise standards of efficiency for domestic heating systems, to give consumers more choice over the way they heat their homes and to gain more control over their energy bills.
Boiler Plus requires a new minimum space heating efficiency for domestic gas boilers in English homes to be 92% as declared under the ErP Directive; whilst in addition, all boiler types must have time and temperature control. When installing a combination boiler, at least one of the four additional energy saving measures must be included:
- Load Compensation – lowers boiler operating temperatures thereby improving efficiency in line with internal demand whilst maintaining comfort levels.
- Weather Compensation – lowers boiler operating temperature in line with external air temperature whilst maintaining internal comfort levels. Air temperature can be drawn from an external sensor or internet derived.
- Smart Controls (with automation and optimisation) – automation is a control function that automatically adjusts time and temperature settings, based on occupancy detection and / or stored data from user adjustments over time. Optimisation is a control function which starts the boiler operation at the optimum time to achieve the set point temperature at the start of the occupancy period.
- Flue Gas Heat Recovery Systems (FGHRS) – recovering heat from waste flue gases to preheat domestic cold water entering the boiler, reducing energy needed to reach the required level for the domestic hot water.
Boiler Plus is a positive change and is definitely a step in the right direction in tackling climate change and keeping household energy costs down. The strategy aims to reduce carbon emissions across Europe, with the ultimate goal of achieving the EU’s 2020 targets.
Vokèra is here to help and can offer installers all four of the energy saving measures outlined within Boiler Plus, allowing consumers and installers alike to achieve compliance quickly and easily. For instance, the new evolve range, is A-rated and all models feature a space heating efficiency of 94% under the Energy-related Products (ErP) Directive. The Vokèra BeSmart Wi-Fi enabled thermostat offers automated home heating control and can be accessed via a smartphone, tablet or desktop computer. The majority of Vokèra’s boilers also come with pre-configured weather compensating technology and are OpenTherm enabled to help maximise efficiency.
For more information on Boiler Plus click here
