30th January 2012
With the winter weather returning with a vengeance this week, householders might be interested in finding out how to keep their home warm without paying through the nose.
Homeowners who want to keep their energy bills low might wish to replace their inefficient boiler with an electric central heating boiler, as this will use less energy than older models.
According to energy group Ebico, if you heat your home with a boiler and radiators, around two-thirds of your energy expenditure will go towards the fuel used to run your central heating.
A spokesperson from the company told Thisismoney.co.uk: "The proportion of energy inherent in the fuel that is used to run the boiler, and ultimately converted into heat, establishes the efficiency of the boiler. To put it another way, the higher your boiler's efficiency, the less amount of fuel needed to create the same amount of heat in your home."
Householders who are keen to reduce their energy spending could therefore opt for a high efficiency condensing boiler, which makes better use of the heat it generates from burning fuels and is environmentally friendly.
The representative noted that condensing boilers did not become popular until the 1990s, so any home that is heated by a boiler older than 20 years is likely to be wasting money through energy inefficiency.
"As boilers age - particularly those that are not well maintained - they become less efficient. This combination of age and old technology means that an older boiler is likely to have significantly higher annual running costs compared with a modern replacement - as much as £300 per year in a typical semi-detached home," the spokesperson added.
Meanwhile, weather forecasters are warning that Arctic winds will sweep Britain in the next few days, bringing flurries of snow and temperatures as low as -10C to certain parts of the country.
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