In light of Gas Safety Week, which takes place from 9 to 15 September, the Energy and Utilities Alliance (EUA) has called for all heating appliances in the home to have a mandatory annual service.
At the moment, gas safety checks, which are not a full service, are carried out annually in the rented home sector but are not obligatory in the owner-occupied market, a statement said.
While gas safety checks cover the basics, a full annual service of all heating appliances would also assess the efficiency of the heating system, it noted, potentially saving consumers cash, and highlight when an appliance is reaching the end of its life.
Mike Foster, CEO of the EUA said: “The gas industry takes safety extremely seriously, Gas Safety Week which is industry led is testimony to that. But we have a duty to go further in our desire to reduce risks to the bare minimum, whilst also highlighting opportunities to help consumers with their bills too.
“Mandatory annual servicing of all heating systems can check their safety, absolutely, but they can also go further. Heating engineers can check that the system is running efficiently, helping consumers keep bills down. They can make recommendations to improve system efficiency, perhaps with smart controls or lowering flow temperatures. More efficient systems cost less to run, reduce energy consumption and therefore help lower carbon emissions too.
“But an annual service can also do more. Anticipating when an appliance is near the end of life, not waiting for it to fail, is key to planning for change. Be that replacing an old boiler with a new one, or switching to a heat pump, doing so before the system is broken is key to keeping cost and disruption to a minimum. Identifying that ‘sweet-spot’ enables this to happen.
“Government could start with the rental sector. They already have an annual gas safety check; it wouldn’t take much to extend that to a full system service. Costs to the tenants would be minimal but savings potentially huge. Once that sector is up and running, then extending the requirement for a mandatory annual service for owner-occupiers would be that much easier.
“Gas Safety Week is a timely reminder, just ahead of the heating season, that we can always do more and industry believes that this new government could signal a step-change to make our homes safer and cheaper to heat.”