Is it worth replacing my boiler with a new energy efficient model?

It is a question we receive all the time from our customers. In this blog, I’m going to demonstrate how you can analyze the numbers to determine whether it’s worth spending money on an energy efficient new boiler!
Two pieces of information to accomplish this. The first is the quantity of gas in kWh that you consume each year. Your utility company will be able to supply you with this information and it could be listed on your bill for gas.

Another thing to consider is determining the efficiency of your boiler. It’s a fairly straightforward process if you identify the model and make number of your boiler.

Near your boiler you’ll see the annual efficiency score of SAP2009 that will give you the efficiency rating of your boiler.

You might be shocked to find out it is the European Union are still messing about establishing an benchmarking process across Europe to evaluate the efficiency of boilers. Hence, we must refer to the SEDBUK ratings for boiler efficiency (which are much more reasonable since they are simply A-G, rather than having A+ A++, A+, or A +++).

The table is located on the right side, and your boiler must be on the scale. If someone is now talking about replacing a ‘G’ rating boiler, you’ll know the issue they’re thinking into consideration.
Do I need to change my boiler right now?

Now that you have how efficient your energy is (both numbers and letters in bands) and also the use of the boiler, you can perform simple maths to figure out the financial savings you could make with a new boiler installation. I will walk you through a working example that uses the following 3 assumptions:

Yearly usage of gas 15,000kWh (slightly less than the average for the nation)
Boiler from the past: Baxi 80e – D, rated at 78.6 percent efficiency
The new boiler is Baxi Avanta Plus 39c Combi Rated to run at 90.8 percent efficiency

Check out the table below to see if you can see how the numbers compare for you!

Step 1: Determine how much heating units my boiler currently produces each year.

My current boiler can transform 15,000 kWh from gas into 11790 units usable heating (simply done by multiplying the number of units times 0.786).

Step 2: Determine the equivalent number of kWh of propane my brand new boiler will require to burn to create the same amount of energy-efficient heat

11 790 times 0.908 = 12,984 kWh gas.

Step 3: Determine how much gas you’re using by installing a new boiler

15,000 minus 12,984 = 2016. kWh or less gas units required

Step 4: Multiply the amount of gas reduced by the average price of gas (4.5p per KWH)

2016 kWh (x PS0.045) PS0.045 equals PS90.72 per year.

The average cost for a boiler is around PS2,500 to purchase and the expected lifespan of an average boiler is 12 to 15 years. Even if you replaced this in the near future, you’re getting a savings of about $1,088 over the course of 15 years the replacement, basing upon this consumption of energy.
What happens if you use 27,000kWh of natural gas? Would this justify changing the boiler?

Old boilers produce 21,222 units of usable heat

The new boiler requires 23,372 kWh of natural gas to generate the same amount of heat

The new boiler will save 3627 kWh of gas each year.

3627 kWh divided by 0.045 equals PS164.24 per year.

Keep in mind that an average boiler will cost PS2500 to replace. Likewise, replacing the D-rated boiler rating boiler described above could yield around PS1970.88 in savings for the following 12 years (without taking into account any increase in energy prices during this period). It is now clear the benefits of this worth your time!

The problem becomes more evident when you are required to pay a monthly amount to maintain your boiler. If you’re paying PS200 annually to have an expert plumber to apply a plaster to your boiler in order to help it get through another winter, could be an even more attractive option.

The important thing is to test this calculation on your own to determine whether it’s worth it.

I hope that the article above can help you to make a decision on whether it’s worth replacing your boiler with a more efficient model. Like I said earlier, we’ve not taken into consideration any fuel price increases in this article case, therefore in the event that gas prices continue to rise by 10% per year, the savings will increase substantially.