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The Importance of Heating Systems

We all know that saving energy is one of the top things on the Government’s agenda. The impacts of using too much energy affect our climate, our energy supply and our own cost of living so it makes sense that the public is being encouraged to use less energy in our homes and lifestyles.

By now we’re all getting familiar with some of the key messages that we see in campaigns and advertising: to buy low energy light bulbs, to buy A-rated kitchen appliances and not to leave your television on standby. These are all sensible suggestions, but they all relate to electricity use and can easily lead people to think that focussing only on lighting and power is enough to ‘do their bit.’ So the following facts might come as a bit of a surprise:
 
  • In UK energy terms, the amount of gas used in our homes is about the same as the total amount of electricity used for homes, businesses, industry and transport put together.[1]
  • 84% of the energy used in an average home with a boiler is for the heating and hot water, and this accounts for about 70% of the carbon emissions.[2]
  • A recent EU study concluded that the carbon emissions from gas and oil central heating boilers were of the same magnitude as that from all road transport.[3]
So it’s clear, the first thing for most people to save energy in the home should be to look at their heating system. Obviously, insulation is part of reducing your heating load and it makes sense to do this first, but without an efficient and well controlled heating system you’ll still be using far more energy than you need to.
 
Installers can obviously benefit from improving heating efficiency, but they can also be the ones to make it happen. Householders are increasingly looking to reduce their energy use and the heating industry can help them to get their priorities right.

[1] BERR Energy Flow Chart 2007
[2] Policy Brief: Improving the energy performance of domestic heating and hot water systems, Defra 2008
[3] Eco-design Boilers, Executive Summary | 30 Sept. 2007| VHK for European Commission