Mike Foster, the CEO of Energy and Utilities Alliance (EUA), has released a statement as 1 April marked 20 years since it became mandatory for new gas boilers to be condensing types.
According to the Energy Savings Trust, a new A rated gas condensing boiler saves households around £320 a year on their heating bill, for a typical semi-detached home, or just over five thousand kWh of gas.
A statement said that over 25m condensing boilers have been sold since 2005, replacing nearly all the UK’s stock of inefficient appliances. The annual savings to UK households is £8bn a year and the amount of gas saved is 127 TWh, it added.
Mike Foster said: “The impact of such a small legislative change by the previous Labour government has been immense. They were at the forefront of balancing the competing demands, now identified as the energy trilemma. Reducing costs to consumers, reducing our carbon emissions and enhancing our energy security, all with one simple measure. It’s a huge lesson in how public policy should deliver; it is the way to do it.
“Behind the legislative change was the innovation of British industry, developing condensing boilers without increasing the costs to the consumer. No need to refurbish the property, no need to pay a massive sum upfront and no need for the huge government subsidies either. It is a model of what could be done today too.
“Without doubt, in 2005 we lived in less turbulent times. So, today’s policies, if properly designed, could have even greater benefits for consumers, the climate and the UK’s energy security. That must be our collective prize.
“British heating appliance manufacturers have shown the way before and they have shown what can be done working with the consumer, not against them. We have a world-leading gas infrastructure in place, capable of supplying energy underground to homes and businesses right across the UK. Harnessing this, not disposing of it, is the best way of capturing the spirit of the 2005 legislation and with it a future of affordable low carbon heating that is energy secure. Let’s grab the opportunity.”