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British boiler manufacturer Baxi has welcomed revisions to legislation which promote energy efficiency by updating minimum requirements for boiler installations in existing buildings.
Changes to technical standards under Building Regulations Approved Document L1b (also known as Boiler Plus) are due to come into effect in April 2018 and will apply to England only.
The measures include a minimum 92% ErP space heating energy efficiency rating for all gas boilers together with mandatory time and temperature control for all boiler types. Combi boiler installations must include one of the following options: weather compensation, load compensation, flue gas heat recovery or smart control with automation and optimisation functions.
Jeff House, regulatory marketing manager at Baxi said: “We strongly support the Boiler Plus policy which will benefit consumers, installers and the environment.
“Given that 20% of the UK’s carbon emissions comes from domestic heating, these new standards will result in huge savings and reduce carbon emissions by 2 MtCO2e in the fourth Carbon Budget and 3.2 MtCO2e in the fifth Carbon Budget.
“This is good news for the environment and also the industry, when considered as part of the Government’s Clean Growth Strategy which is in part designed to drive economic growth.
“But the consumer will be the biggest winner here. Statistics show that less than half of domestic heating systems currently operating in the UK are fitted with a full set of recommended controls, resulting in an energy wastage issue. The new minimum requirements will improve the efficiency of new boiler installations thereby saving consumers money on their energy bills.
“We have worked closely with the government and wider industry to ensure that the proposed changes are not only beneficial to efficiency and emissions but are also easily adopted, low cost and simple to factor into a boiler installation.
“The Baxi range of boilers allows consumers and installers alike to achieve easy compliance with the new requirements, providing a tailored solution to suit their individual property or system configuration.”
