Boilers

(asked on 3rd June 2019) - View Source

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he has taken to ensure that boilers comply with the 2018 Boiler Plus regulations and are at least 92% energy efficient.


Answered by
Chris Skidmore Portrait
Chris Skidmore
This question was answered on 11th June 2019

The 2018 uplifts to boiler installation standards were made through an amendment to the 2018 Building Regulations. Compliance with Building Regulations is enforced by Building Control.

Compliance with Energy-related Products (ErP) standards is carried out by Notified Bodies, as defined by EU Directive 92/42/EEC: Hot Water Boilers. A list of Notifying Bodies can be found at the following URL: http://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/nando/index.cfm?fuseaction=directive.print&refe_cd=92%2F42%2FEEC

In response to his question on the percentage of boilers sold after the introduction of the current standards, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 24th May 2019 to Question 255264.

The details of the research carried out on real-world boiler performance are available here:

https://www.bre.co.uk/sap2012/page.jsp?id=2768

https://www.bre.co.uk/sap2012/page.jsp?id=2767

https://www.bre.co.uk/sap2016/page.jsp?id=3619

Boilers operate within a household heating system comprising pumps, pipes, emitters and controls. The efficient operation of the system depends on the proper sizing, positioning and maintenance of these components to ensure how water is distributed as it should around the building. The heating system has a dynamic relationship with the fabric of the building such that efficiency is also affected by the level of insulation, ventilation, the extent to which doors and windows are kept open, and ambient heat from other household systems. Performance is also affected by the manner in which the consumer makes use of timers, thermostats and individual radiator controls, and by variation in gas content.

Boiler efficiency must be measured under test conditions to ensure comparability between products. There are too many variables in situ, as described above, to allow fair comparability.

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