The Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has launched the consultation entitled ‘Heat in Buildings: The Future of Heat – Domestic Buildings’. The department is seeking views from installers, manufacturers and consumers on a range of measures and policy options that will help keep energy bills low as possible and reduce carbon emissions from the home while avoiding upfront costs that could discourage home improvements. The proposed changes are aimed at Part L1b of the Building Regulations (Conservation of Fuel and Power in Existing Dwellings).
The consultation’s focus is on domestic heating, specifically the new and replacement boiler market where the deployment of energy saving technologies is low. It is believed that new technology installed at the point of boiler replacements presents an opportunity to help consumers save on their energy bills in a way that minimises costs and hassle while enhancing the quality of the installation. Overall, the consultation seeks to make carbon savings by lowering overall gas demand in domestic properties.
HHIC (Heating and Hotwater Industry Council) submitted a paper ‘Boiler plus – the next step in heating regulation’ to BEIS which recommended that appropriate time, temperature and weather compensation heating controls should be installed in residential properties at the time a new boiler is fitted and that these measures should be mandated in Building Regulations.
Stewart Clements, Director of HHIC, says: “We know that changing Building Regulations in 2005 to mandate that all domestic gas boiler installations should use a condensing boiler remains one of the most successful government interventions into the residential energy market to date, and I believe that mandating the installation of time and temperature controls with new boiler installations will prove equally successful. Currently, we install 1.6 million new gas boilers per year and if each of these boilers was accompanied by a full suite of heating controls, the carbon and monetary savings made would be substantial.”
Baxi has also welcomed the Government’s proposals. The company highlights the idea that in replacement installations, boilers should have a space heating efficiency of no less than 92% (based on the ErP Space Heating Efficiency metric) along with the recommendation that a thermostat, timer and weather compensation controls should be fitted.
Jeff House, Regulatory Marketing Manager at Baxi, says: “The proposals are centred on the introduction of relatively small, mandatory changes to retrofit boiler installations – involving measures that many installers will actually be doing already. Through consulting with manufacturers such as Baxi, the Government has recognised that installing a modern condensing boiler along with a thermostat, timer and weather compensation is a relatively simple way to help householders reduce their energy costs and carbon emissions. These measures will also be easy and straightforward for installers to implement, and cost-effective. This point was key for Baxi – when talking with Government, we strived for any new requirements to be easy for installers, and not too costly for end customers; we wanted all parties to get a good deal.”
Speaking from the point of view of a radiator manufacturer, QRL is interested in the call for evidence on return water temperatures and the sizing of radiators to improve heating performance. David Kerr, QRL Radiator Groups, has welcomed the inclusion of heat emitters in the proposals, hailing it as a “wake-up call” for the industry.
He says: “[This] marks an important shift in consciousness that we hope to see spread across the heating industry in the coming months and years. It makes no sense at all to invest in fitting high-end condensing boilers, renewable heating technologies or advanced controls, only to pair them with inefficient and outdated radiators. For too long, heat emitters have been left out of the efficiency equation – so to see them included in this consultation is a wake-up call for the industry.”
The online consultation document/feedback form can be accessed at https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/heat-in-buildings-the-future-of-heat
