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HIGH EFFICIENCY CONDENSING BOILERS As of April 2005 in England and Wales, with very few exceptions, it is a requirement under Part ‘L’ of the building regulations, that new and replacement boilers should be High efficiency (HE) condensing boilers, with an efficiency of no less than 86%. Modern boilers convert 90% of their fuel into heat compared to 78% on conventional boilers. To put that into more comparable terms, the exhaust fumes from a conventional boiler exiting the flue outside will be on average around 150-180 degrees! Compare this figure with 50-60 degrees from a condensing boiler flue. That’s about 100 degrees of wasted heat that could be used for heating the water in your heating system, rather than warming the flies outside! Compared to existing boilers they use 30-40% less fuel; a condensing boiler’s high operating efficiency capabilities are made possible by a completely different design approach to the combustion and heat transfer process. With larger heat exchangers or sometimes two heat exchangers, their design ensures that as much heat as possible is transferred from the burner and as little as possible is lost in gases through the flue. The visual proof, apart from your gas bill, of the amount of energy drawn form the flue gas, is the appearance of ‘Pluming’ from the flue which is a good visual sign that the boiler is working to its maximum potential. Pluming is a mist caused by the flue gases turning to a water vapour due to the lower flue gas temperatures produced from the heat transfer process in the boiler.
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The majority of the water vapour produced ‘Condensate’ runs down through the boiler and is discharged to a local drain line via a waste line. This is an additional pipe required compared to conventional boilers.
It is no surprise then, that one of the most effective ways of reducing your energy bills is to replace an old or inefficient boiler with a HE condensing boiler. Replacing that old inefficient boiler may not seem a cost effective way of reducing your fuel bills, but lower heating bills can help recover the cost within 3-5 years and the savings continue long after. A new Condensing boiler and controls upgrade could produce fuel cost savings of between £190 - £240 annually. There are three main types of boiler, which are |
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| Boiler Types | The Conventional Heating System | ||
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Requires two water tanks located high up one a Cold Water Storage Tank the other an Expansion / Feed tank, also requires a Hot Water Cylinder. The storage cylinder holds a large quantity of hot water that is available immediately (or as soon as the feed allows). However when this store has been used up it has to be reheated, this could take anything up to 1 hour. This type of system is considered the least efficient as there are heat losses from the pipe work to and from the boiler to the cylinder and the cylinder itself. |
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| System Boiler Heating Systems | |||
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System boilers come in two types, a vented low pressure and an un-vented high pressure system. Both require a Hot Water cylinder. Vented system boilers require a storage tank but most of the other components are held in the unit itself which means that installation is quicker and cheaper. Also, the hot primary water is pumped through the system to the radiators and hot water cylinder resulting in a faster response and more economical running costs. |
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| Combi Boiler Heating Systems | |||
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Combi's are now the most used form of central heating boilers. Most Combi's run on mains pressure water, thus do not require tanks to be placed in the loft. They also eliminate the need for a hot water cylinder as they instantly heat the water when it is needed. Another benefit with the combi is that, due to it running from the mains water supply, you can create an effective power shower without the need for a pump. |
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| Services Biggs Heat Technologies offer:- | |||
HEATING SYSTEMS |
GAS WORKS RENEWABLES |
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