Going green?
If your energy bills are reaching boiling point, you might be tempted to turn to something less expensive – and if you believe the headlines, opting for a greener energy source like heat pumps.
However, with the cost of living crisis being what it is currently, now is actually not the time to be replacing boilers with heat pumps. There’s the initial outlay cost, for starters. Yes, a new boiler might set you back around £2,000 on average, but heat pumps can cost much more.
Expensive exchange
The Energy Saving Trust estimates a typical air source heat pump will cost around £6,000 to £8,000. A ground source heat pump is even more expensive, costing from £10,000 to £18,000.
Yes, you read that right – £18,000. That is a staggering 10 times the average cost to install the boiler.
What about the return on investment?
A good heat pump salesperson will tell you that while the outlay is much higher, you will eventually recoup those costs because renewables are much cheaper to run. But is it?
Without complicating things too much, the return on investment (ROI) of your heat pump is based on what’s called the Renewable Heat Incentive. This was a payment given by the government as an incentive for homeowners and businesses that chose greener heat options at their premises.
Under the Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive scheme, your ROI would be at around 10%, with full payback within around 12 years*.
Firstly, does anyone know the typical lifespan of an air source heat pump? Incidentally, it’s about 15 years – so you’d just about get your money back, and then you’d need to think about replacing it with another.
Lucrative DRHI now closed
Plus, that is assuming that the 15-year window is an accurate estimate, given the technology is still quite new – so there is a chance it could need replacing before that time.
Oh and the Domestic RHI scheme is now closed. So, if you didn’t apply before March 2022, you now can’t get on the scheme, unless you are taking over a property that already has renewables installed and you are applying for a change of details.
So it remains to be seen whether or not you can still get any kind of government incentive – and we’re going to need something good if they want us to help them reach ambitious targets of 600,000 heat pumps that they want to be installed in our homes by 2028!
Even if you’re tempted by the savings compared to traditional gas, don’t forget most renewables are powered by electricity – and thanks to recent government levies, electricity now costs four times as much as gas.
Ironically, the Government imposed a “green levy” that adds £159 a year to our electricity bills.
It means unwitting homeowners who go green in good faith will find themselves stung by higher electricity costs to heat and power their homes – making the switch to more eco-friendly options completely irrelevant as they will be paying the same, if not more.
Still room for the traditional boiler
Boilers, in comparison, are much cheaper to install and a good one that is serviced regularly and well-maintained will last you about 10-12 years, or even longer.
Plus, boilers are just more viable. How does a pensioner afford an initial outlay of up to £18,000 for a heat pump? With the cost of living being what it is currently, how does the Average Joe afford one?
Also, how does someone living on the 15th floor of an apartment block get a heat pump? Will there be one pump for the whole block? How will any cost savings be divvied out?
Would you buy a home with a heat pump?
And then there’s the added problem of property saleability. It seems some people are put off by heat pumps, with Jonathan Rolande, director and property surveyor at House Buy Fast, saying installing a heat pump could make it harder to sell your home. “Property buyers do not like these new, relatively untested systems and in my experience, will not pay more for a property with them installed” he told The Express. “In some cases, buyers will be put off altogether.”
We get it, boilers get a bad rep. In the past, they’ve been slammed as expensive, clunky and noisy bits of equipment – and in old houses with separate, uninsulated tanks for heating water, this might be the case as it could be bad news for your bills.
However, these days, modern boilers are much better. Combination, or “combi” boilers in particular are very slick and efficient because instead of storing vast amounts of hot water that is being heated unnecessarily, a combi boiler will heat it on command. Even if you don’t opt for a combi, the energy efficiency grade of the boiler has improved dramatically and now, your boiler could cost you as little as 1p every 5 minutes.
Can we help with an upgrade?
According to the rumour mill, the Government could step in and force the banning of traditional boilers – and some say this might happen as early as 2025. Now’s the time to get your skates on if you’ve been thinking of upgrading.
Here at Koziwarm we can also help with the initial outlay of the cost of a new boiler with our flexible 0% finance options.
GIve us a call today to see if we can help your home stay Koziwarm or alternatively try our online quote system.
*source: https://purerenewables.co.uk/energy-solutions/air-source-heat-pump/#:~:text=Air%20Source%20Heat%20Pumps%20(ASHPs,period%20of%20around%2012%20years.
When you turn on your heating, the gas boiler will use around 6kW to build up temperature, at which point, the pump will start the heating circulation.
Once the temperature is close to your desired temperature, the boiler will attune itself from anywhere between 0 and 12 kw.
That sounds a lot, but most boilers will run idle at 2-4 KW per hour once the heating is up to temperature, depending on the insulation of your property and resulting heat loss.
Count your radiators
Another thing to bear in mind is the number of radiators you have in your property. The more radiators you have the harder your boiler has to work.
You’ve probably heard of the cost-saving tip that involves turning off radiators in rooms that are not frequently in use and closing the door. The idea is that by turning some radiators off, your boiler will work more efficiently, meaning the rest of the house will warm up sooner so the boiler switches off sooner, and you’ll save money because you’re using less gas.
Consider bleeding radiators regularly too as this will help prevent cold spots in the room, but it will also mean your boiler isn’t overcompensating and using energy on a radiator that isn’t performing as it should. This will have a negative effect on both your bank balance and inefficiency – so double check there isn’t any air locks in your system.
Getting the balance
While on the topics of radiators, heating engineers sometimes use a little trick that helps optimise heating – but bear with us, we’re going to get technical!
Hydronic balancing is the process of optimising the flow of water in your home’s heating system. Some consumers unintentionally unbalance their heating systems because they believe the radiators nearest the boiler take the bulk of the hot water flow, leaving other radiators with little flow – so they open all the valves as wide as possible.
The result is often one or more radiators not heating up properly, causing cold and hot spots to emerge in a house, or even not heat up at all – hence the name an “unbalanced system”.
By restoring the balance in the system pressure, the heating system can deliver the desired temperature at optimum energy efficiency and minimal operating cost.
If you’re experiencing cold spots, or radiators that are not heating up, the best thing to do is contact a heating engineer so that they can investigate whether your system is unbalanced as well as provide services to get your home warm again and advice as to how you can avoid it in future.
Once the hydraulic balancing is complete, the radiators heat up at an even rate and, in most cases, the boiler can run at a lower temperature, increasing efficiency. It’s a really simple process and given its clear benefits, it’s something you should do straight away.
Out in the cold
If your boiler is more than 10-15 years old, you should consider replacing it. Modern boilers are extremely efficient and there is a huge amount of choice out there on the market.
So what are we looking at in terms of costs?
These are just a rough ballpark, and will vary depending on the size of your house, how many radiators you have and what sort of system is installed.
The most common boilers are the Combination, or “combi” boiler and a system boiler. Combis heat water as it’s required, so there is no storage tank. Conversely, a system boiler will usually have a large tank where hot water is stored.
The cost of a new combi boiler can range from £1,000 to £3,000 and then you have the installation cost on top, which can vary depending on the work involved and whether you are switching from a different boiler type to a combi boiler.
The cost of a system boiler can go up to £2,500. The installation cost can then range from £500 to £1,000 which gives an overall installation cost of anything from £1,000 to £3,500.
If you have a house with up to four bedrooms, and you currently have a system boiler, you can make the switch to a combi. Previously, combi boilers were given the incorrect reputation that they were only for flats and small houses – but these days the technology is so good you can install them in larger homes too.
In fact, more people are opting to switch to a combi boiler and this is because the combi boiler will do the same thing as a system boiler. It will work better, help to free up space due to the water tank being removed and it is more compact.
This is an intricate job that requires a lot of work and so, the conversion will take around two days to complete but it is a worthwhile switch. It is highly unlikely that the job will take one day and it rarely spills into a third day – but in the long run, these jobs are worth investing the time in to help you futureproof costs and the chance of future breakdowns.
A new boiler might sound like overkill, but it really could save you money in the long run. According to the Energy Saving Trust, upgrading from a 15 year old boiler to a modern combi boiler could save you 20-35% on your heating bills.
It might not be as expensive as you thought and we have our finance deals available on boilers too.
Give us a call on 01206 826903 for servicing and boiler repairs, or head to our quote page to find out how much a new boiler might cost you.
It’s been a cold winter, which means we are relying on our boilers more than we do at other times of the year. But, when they go wrong, or they need replacing, it can be easy to be bamboozled by all the choice out there – and some of what you read might not be completely accurate.
We’ve picked out some of the most common boiler myths we’ve come across about the humble combination boiler – and attempted to dispel them for you.
They don’t work in bigger houses
This might have been true at one point – 20 years ago! The truth is, technology has now improved so much, combination boilers are great for any size house.
In fact, combination boilers are currently the most popular boiler types in the UK, making up around 80% of sales. As a result, appliances and systems have been forced to evolve to be more efficient for the customer.
Oh, and combination boilers cant fill a bath
We hear this one quite a lot, but again, not true. A combination boiler will do this for you just as effectively as a traditional cylinder storage system.
Combination boilers are designed to have hot water on demand from taps in kitchens and bathrooms, however, we tend to find people are now much more conscientious about water usage than a few decades ago. As such, people are now more likely to take showers more frequently than filling a bath. If you have a combination boiler, then this is ideal for many households, as it can give instantaneous hot water as opposed to storing it – which is far more cost effective as you are not storing lots of hot water you are not using, and you are only using what you need, when you need it.
If you tend to take regular baths it is worth you having a chat with us so that we can help you choose a combi boiler that is the ideal size, with the right output capacity for your property and individual requirements.
Plus, it takes ages for hot water to reach the tap
Again, present day boilers have advanced a lot and many models of combination boilers come complete with pre-heating functionality – so gone are the days you were wasting water and pouring the cold away while waiting for the hot to kick in! Not only is this much better for the customer, it is more efficient, saves energy and cuts costs.
And, should you wish, you can even turn that functionality off. Don’t say the experts haven’t made boilers work even harder to work for our homes!
Anyway, aren’t gas boilers being phased out?
Hold your horses! Gas boilers aren’t going anywhere for the time being.
With all this talk around of heat pumps and renewable energy, we’re still very much in the early stages. Plus, it will only be new builds that have this technology built in from 2025.
However, we do need to consider our carbon emission goals – but you don’t need renewable heat to do that. A new, more efficient boiler can help, not only with lower emissions, but on your pocket too.
Well, I already have a new central heating system. So that means I don’t have to get it serviced, right?
Wrong! This is probably one of the most prolific myths out there and it can be so damaging – both to the heating system and financially!
Just because you have a new boiler or heating system, it does not mean you can sit back and rest on your laurels. A heating system such as a mains gas boiler is used every day and burns fossil fuels. It heats water and has enormous temperature fluctuations regularly. Water which is constantly on the move around the house, or stored in storage tanks, is a recipe for corrosion and deterioration.
Can we help?
We would highly recommend protecting your system with a filter or a chemical liquid protector. In addition to this, you should also be getting your boiler, old or new, serviced regularly. Not only will this protect your central heating system, it will also protect you from property damage.
What’s more, some warranties insist on regular servicing in order to maintain cover on a product. It will become void if it is found that the system has not been properly maintained and looked after.
One of the most effective ways to reduce energy bills – and we’re looking at huge raises once again for 2022 – is to think about replacing your old, inefficient boiler with a cost effective one.
While that might set you back a thousand pounds or two, don’t even consider scrimping on the right level of cover. After all, you wouldn’t purchase a new gadget, car or household item and not consider insuring it.
If your boiler is over 15 years old, then the chances are it is not performing as it ought too and investing in a new one could pay you dividends in the long run. Otherwise, you might just find you’re forking out for expensive repairs, or parts become harder to find.
The initial cost of a new boiler might be daunting, but we are pleased to offer our customers flexible payment options, as well as 0% finance. It means you could see a more efficient boiler, and the savings it brings, straight away.
Click here for a bespoke quote in less than 3 minutes!
Alternatively, give us a call to discuss your requirements relating to a repair, maintenance or servicing.
We get a lot of calls from people about the same sort of things. And, whilst we thank you for reaching out to us – it’s absolutely the right thing to do – sometimes, we could save you the call out charge by checking a few things out first.
Here are our top 5 boiler problems and how you can easily solve them.
No heating or hot water
It’s a pain isn’t it? You’ve run yourself a nice bath, only to find it’s stone cold, or worse, you’ve come in from a winter’s day to find the house is no warmer than it is outside.
The first thing you should check is the pressure gauge on your boiler to see if it is below 1. If it is, there could be an air lock in your system, so try bleeding your radiators to see if that helps. If that doesn’t work, you might need to repressurise your boiler and you will need to refer to your boiler manual to see how to do this properly. If you don’t have the manual, you can also contact your boiler manufacturer who will be able to talk through this with you. The ideal pressure for your boiler should be between 1 and 2.
If this still doesn’t solve the problem, or it becomes intermittent, then give us a call as it could be a fault within the boiler itself.
Inadequate radiator heat
We briefly covered this above, but an air lock is usually the cause of uneven radiator heat. An air lock is easy enough to solve, you will need some old towels, a small bucket or large jug and a radiator bleed key to do this and there are plenty of videos online to show you how.
Cold patches on radiators can also be caused by a build-up of air or sludge inside either the radiators or the heating system itself. So, if bleeding the radiators doesn’t work, call us as we can then quote you to flush out the system and see if that solves the issue.
Boiler noise
You wouldn’t believe the number of calls we get on this, which, most of the time, end up being nothing to worry about. To some extent, some boiler noise is perfectly normal – especially if it’s just firing up, or it’s getting going after a long period of time switched off, either due to the house being empty or the heating being off over the summer.
When do you call us? When there is any uncharacteristic noises, whistling or gurgling, or if the boiler is making the banging noise (make sure the banging is not coming from the radiators or pipes as this can be an air lock – see points 1 and 2 above – those pesky airlocks have got a lot to answer for!).
Frozen pipes
This is a very common one – especially this time of year as we head into the colder months. There is a condensate pipe which transports condensation from your boiler to the outside drain, which is why it freezes during periods of cold weather. As a result, a blockage can occur and cause a boiler breakdown.
You can defrost your condensate pipes by pouring hot water along the length of the pipe. Do not use boiling water as this can cause the pipes to warp or crack. The water temperature should resemble a hot bath or shower. Once the pipe has thawed you can restart your boiler – check your boiler manual for how to do this, or call the manufacturer.
You might need to repeat the process several times before your boiler kicks in again, but call us if this still doesn’t solve your problem after several attempts.
Boiler not responding to thermostat
Again, as the clocks go back at this time of year, we get so many calls about this. We suddenly think our boilers have stopped working – at a time when we need them most! But, have you thought about adjusting the timer on your boiler to reflect the new daylight hours? We might save you a little embarrassment as well as cash on a call out charge, but, if your boiler is definitely on, your times are all correct and the thermostat is still not responding, give us a call.
Further tips to avoid a call out charge
Carry out basic checks on your boiler. As well as the pressure, check the gas supply on any appliances as if they aren’t working, that is a sure sign something is wrong with the mains and you will need to call us out. Check any fuses as these can just trip out and check the heating controls, or the reset button – sometimes things just need resetting and the boiler will start working again.
For your frozen pipes, you can avoid this problem in the future by putting pipe insulation or lagging around the pipe to protect it from the cold.
Age and inefficiency can also cause boilers to break down. Older boilers can also be much more inefficient and we would recommend investing in a new system so that you can get the heating and hot water you need. A new modern and energy-efficient boiler could also help you save on your energy bills – plus, we offer flexible finance options for all our customers, making it more affordable too.
Check out our new boiler page (https://www.koziwarm.com/new-boilers/) for more information or give us a call. If you think you have a boiler emergency, contact us any time of the day or night on 01206 826 903.
Yes it might sound ridiculous, but, the coronavirus has given way to a new pandemic – and, as well as your health it could be affecting boilers across the country.
With uncertainty shrouding the country, people facing difficult lockdown rules and self-isolation, life as we knew it seemed to ebb away to a distant memory. But, as well as abandoning our daily routines for furlough and face masks, we also started to neglect our boilers.
Delaying repairs or servicing to your boiler could be extremely hazardous and even dangerous – and the worry now is that there could be hundreds, even thousands, of under-maintained boilers that could be causing health problems, or even worse fatalities.
If you or your boiler are suffering from either of these three things, you might want to call on the services of a gas engineer straight away!
“It is not an essential service”
Whilst we regularly celebrated front line workers, heating engineers were often forgotten about during the coronavirus pandemic. Amazing doctors and nurses fought hard to keep people healthy, but, gas engineers had a vital job too – ensuring that heating systems remain safe at a time when we were spending the most time at home during national lockdowns.
In spite of this, people viewed boiler servicing as a non-essential service as they became nervous about who they let into their homes.
Whilst delaying repairs and servicing to a boiler can take its toll on your health – with risks such as carbon monoxide poisoning – it can also be costly on your finances. One area often overlooked is a regular clean of the boiler system, which can often leak or corrode, causing damage to walls, floors and ceilings where pipes are housed. Limescale can also cause an issue, causing “sludge” in the system to back up, causing the boiler to fail. it can also limit the boiler’s capacity to work properly, which makes it inefficient – but also costs more to run. The problem is super easy to fix and simply requires a chemical flush-through to keep the system working properly, and it would have probably been picked up during a boiler’s annual service.
Regular servicing will keep your boiler operating efficiently, meaning it is much less likely to break down and lead to costly repairs later on. It’s always a good idea to service your boiler in the summer months when it is not being used as much for heating, so that any issues can be sorted before you come to rely on it during the winter. According to a recent survey by Which, more than 50% of boiler breakdowns occur in the winter, equating to just over 2.5 million UK households suffering a heating failure. The average cost to get a boiler back up and running is £200, which means those additional households will have paid around £60 million in repairs (source: https://www.hvpmag.co.uk/Lockdown-triggers-UK-boiler-breakdown-surge-Hometree-says/12414).
This is why heating engineers are in high demand during the winter as they attend emergency call outs for repairs or new boiler installations. Therefore, if you get ahead during the summer months, you are less likely to experience a boiler breakdown during the winter months – and face delays waiting for a busy heating engineer to come and fix your boiler for you.
So, if you still don’t think heating engineers offer an essential service, you might want to think again!
People put servicing on hold
If you were one of those people thinking boiler servicing and repairs were not essential, you weren’t alone. According to a survey by Rated People, demand for installing, servicing and repairing boilers plummeted by more than a third (34%) during the pandemic, compared to the year previous. Not only were people concerned about isolation from the virus, Rated People’s findings showed that people were also trying to rein in spending at a time when there may have been concerns about job security or furlough cutting income.
However, the cost of neglecting boilers could be significantly more in the long run – and not just financially. Boiler servicing keeps them safe as early detection from dangerous issues such as carbon monoxide can save lives.
According to the NHS website, there are nearly 60 deaths every year caused by carbon monoxide poisoning – and they are all entirely preventable. The website goes on to explain that carbon monoxide is deadly because it enters your bloodstream when you breathe in and mixes with red blood cells to form a substance called carboxyhemoglobin. This substance prevents the blood from being able to carry oxygen, causing the body’s cells and tissue to fail and die (source: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/carbon-monoxide-poisoning/)
That may be hard to hear from such a graphic description, however, the most frightening thing is that carbon monoxide is completely undetectable through taste or smell – hence why it is widely known as the silent killer. It can make you feel extremely unwell and is often fatal – but again, the solution is simple. Installing a carbon monoxide alarm near to your boiler and regular servicing will help significantly reduce the chances of becoming seriously ill or dying from carbon monoxide poisoning.
That’s why, if you’ve been putting boiler maintenance or repairs on hold, it is more important than ever that you get it serviced asap.
“We thought they weren’t allowed to get it done”
As well as putting servicing on hold due to uncertainty surrounding essential work, lockdown “stay at home” messaging saw people thinking they had to isolate themselves in their own household bubbles. So, they put their boiler replacements or repairs on hold, thinking they were doing the right thing.
Heating engineers have been operating throughout the pandemic – and their work was permitted to continue. Advice from the government, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and Gas Safe Register is that safety checks must continue to keep boilers working properly.
This means there are people out there who have put off having their boiler serviced for so long that they may be tempted to wait until the next service date comes around. But why wait and potentially deprive your home of heating and hot water? Plus, if you’ve recently had a new boiler installed, delaying a service could invalidate your warranty.
To keep everyone safe our engineers at KOZIWARM used more PPE and kept socially distanced from customers. Most chose to open front or back doors to allow us in to assess boilers, while they could remain socially distanced in another room.
We were also careful to wipe down any surfaces we touched, even while using gloves, and changed all PPE between visits. So, if you’re worried or concerned, we will do everything we can to put customers’ minds at ease. But, please don’t be tempted to delay those all-important repairs or maintenance. Particularly as we come out the other side of the pandemic and back to some sort of “normal” life, it can be tempting to put those plans on hold, but if anything, it’s even more important.
More people look to spend more time at home even after lockdown lifts, with more people beginning home-based working, it is more important that boilers get serviced. It is predicted that the pandemic has seen heating use increase by around 12%, increasing household bills to around an average of £55 per month. Now is the time to do all you can to ensure your boiler is working efficiently – and safely.
Click here to get a quote for a repair or a new boiler and see how KOZIWARM can make a difference to your home.
It is never nice knowing that your hard earned money is being spent on your annual energy bills. This is an even bitter pill to swallow when The Energy Saving Trust estimates around 60 per cent of our energy bill costs are spent on heating our home and hot water.
Below is a summary of some of the amazing benefits of having a new boiler and how they far outweigh the initial investment:
We all want to be comfortable in our home and one of the fantastic benefits of upgrading your old boiler is having improved heating control.
Having more control over your heating minimises any wasted heat in rooms that are not in use and allows for you to maintain a comfortable temperature in your whole house.
The good news is that most boilers that are on the market today are around 88% – 90% energy efficient and therefore by replacing your old boiler, you can drastically reduce your annual energy bills.
We are soon entering a time where individuals will be held accountable for their carbon footprint and having an old and inefficient boiler means your C0’2 emissions will be higher than necessary.
For example, by replacing an old boiler with a top rated condensing boiler and a full set of heating controls you can save up to 1,200kg of CO2 a year.
Our advice is to think about replacing your old boiler when you have control of the timings, rather than when it is too late and you are left without heating or hot water.
If you are concerned about the efficiency of your current boiler and would like to save money on your energy bills then simply fill in our online quote system for an instant new boiler quote.