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How To Make Oil Boiler More Efficient?

During the winter months when the nights get darker and colder, it’s more likely your oil gets used up a lot more quickly. This can be very worrisome as it implies having to spend more money to refill. So what exactly can be done to make your oil boiler more efficient and save you some money?

• Regular Servicing Of Your Oil Boiler

Getting your boiler serviced by a manufacturer approved engineer on an annual basis is one of the easiest and quickest ways to ensure that your oil boiler is operating at its maximum efficiency level. When a full servicing is provided for your oil boiler, checks are made to ensure that all components are functioning the way they should while also identifying the bad or worn parts that may be hindering your oil boiler from functioning in an effective manner. As a result, it helps you see to the fact that your boiler is not consuming more than necessary to make sure your oil boiler lasts longer.

• Set Your Thermostats Correctly

When you set your room thermostats and thermostatic radiator valves (TRVs) the right way, you’ll be sure to get a comfortable home without having to make use of much fuel.

• Consider Smart Technology

If you decide to make use of smart technology like Nest or Hive, you can save more money when compared to their more conventional counterparts. These smart technologies incorporate highly advance intelligent systems to get more familiar with your lifestyle, habits as well as heating operations in order to ensure optimum efficiency at all times.

• Put Your Radiators To Good Use

Try as much as possible to avoid some oversights that can make your radiators consume more energy than required. Consequently, you have to keep them clean, give them space and also take care with curtains.

A combination boiler, also referred to as a “combi boiler, delivers both domestic hot water and space heating in a single package so as to save space, and in a lot of cases, money. These great features makes the appliance a very popular choice in UK homes and in fact, it represents more than 50 percent of all new boilers fitted in the UK on a yearly basis.

Most modern and high efficiency combi boilers are usually stainless steel condensing boilers which normally features an in-built secondary heat exchanger to deliver domestic hot water to a home or property. What’s more? When it comes to the heating season or the cold months, the combi boiler will operated as required to heat a structure and offer hot water for showers, sinks as well as other hot water appliances around the house. And when it gets to the warm season or summer months, the combi boiler will only work when there’s a need for domestic hot water which also helps you save more money.

Combi boilers are able to provide domestic hot water in such a way that’s energy efficient due to two primary reasons - the combi units possess a very high operating efficiency and also have a low internal water volume. As a result, in during the hot summer when space heating is not required, you’ll only have to pay to heat up the hot water that you really need and not an entire tank.

Combi boilers also have the following benefits:

✓ Lower costs. Due to the combined nature of the boiler and the lack of tank in the roof space, the installation time and costs are at a minimum.

✓ Saves space in your home as it effectively combines a central heating boiler with a water heater into one unit.

What Is A Gas Safety Certificate?

Do you wish to know what a Gas Safety Certificate is and if you need to get one?

If you’re in the UK and you own a rental property, you have a statutory obligation to obtain a Gas Safety Certificate. The law ( Gas Safety - Installation and Use, Regulations 1998) stipulates that landlords as a matter of necessity should have all their gas appliances, fittings,and property flues subjected to yearly checks in order to ensure that they’re are totally safe.

The Gas Safety Certificate can be referred to in a number of ways which includes Landlord Gas Safety Record ( LGSR) or CORGI PROFORMA 12 (CP12). The later dating back to when the official body for gas safety in the UK was CORGI. However, the official body is now known as Gas Safe, hence it’s now usually called a Gas Safety Certificate or something along that line. But regardless of whatever you choose to call it, as long as you reside in the UK, it’s crucial to know that if you need one as soon as possible. So how do know if you need a Gas Safety Certificate?

If you’re a homeowner with a property that you live in, you’re not required by the law to obtain a Gas Safety Certificate. There’s nothing like a homeowner’s gas safety certificate, however we’d recommend you subject all you gas appliances and pipework to yearly examinations to ensure they’re functioning properly and safely.

If you’re a landlord in the UK, you’re required by the law to get a Gas Safety Certificate to ensure your property is safe for your tenants. You must reach out to an approved Gas Safe engineer who’ll carry out annual checks on your appliances to ensure that they’re totally safe.

When it comes to boiler insurance in the UK, two companies easily comes to mind - British Gas Homecare and Homeserve. Just like any other choice you’d have to make, choosing the company that’s best for you might be a bit difficult especially if you don’t want to make the wrong choice. This article will give you a good insight into the pros and cons of the two companies’ boiler cover to help you make the best choice for your home.

British Gas Homecare Cover

Pros

• Reduced cost of services as a result of the annual payment option.

• An array of affordable packages including both few and several services

• Although vulnerable customers are prioritized, the company offers a 24/7 services.

• Unlimited claims

• Depending on what you wish to get, be it only a monthly boiler cover or more services, you’ll get several services’ options.

Cons

• With a 50% bad rating on a reliable customer review site, you know there is a question mark on the company’s customer service.

• Increment in renewal price after first year of service.

• Lacks cover for the boiler’s sludge or scale.

Homeserve Cover

Pros

• For most individuals, the 5 packages offered are affordable.

• 24 hour help hotline

• From reliable customer rating websites, the company offers a great service.

• Cover costs include both parts and labour.

• There are good options for one-off repairs.

• The options are cheaper than British Gas services.

• There are multiple choices for excess payments for various packages.

• An option for annual boiler repair.

Cons

• Lack of annual payment option

• The price of the packages will increase after the first year

• The services are mostly for houses or flats, while businesses and other types of property are being neglected.

Condensing boilers are the in-thing when it comes to modern heating systems in UK businesses and across the globe for a good reason. This is primarily due to the fact that condensing boilers happens to be highly efficient as it enables the fuel you’re burning to heat up your home go a lot further. Having a new high efficiency condensing boiler rather than an old G-rated non condensing boiler will not only enhance your heating controls, but also save you a lot of money annually. In this article, we’re going to take you through the basics of a condensing boiler. Let’s take a closer look!

If you’re interested in getting a greener and more efficient boiler, you simply can’t afford to look beyond a high efficiency condensing boiler. This is purely due to the fact that these condensing boilers happens to make a better use of the heat they’re able to produce from burning fuels like oil or gas ( in other words, they require less heat from the burner, which makes them a lot more efficient).

So how does a condensing boiler work? Unlike a non-condensing heat-nly boiler, some heat will be wasted in form of hot gases which are released from the flue. Meanwhile a condensing boiler captures some of the heat from these gases and puts them to use for heating up water that’s coming back from your central heating system. As a result, it requires just a minimal heat from the burner which make the boiler more efficient.

You should take note that all new modern boilers are condensing boilers. Therefore if you’re planning to replace an old boiler with a new one, you’ll definitely be buying a new condensing boiler and benefit from all the efficiency and savings that comes with it.

Can I Repair My Own Gas Boiler?

If you’re more of an handy person, then you’d probably want to fix everything you can around the house while saving yourself some money that would have been spent on hiring a professional instead. This is a very cost effective but at the same time you must know that some tasks are usually more difficult than others, and a good example of those complex tasks is boiler repair. Not only can this be very tough, but they can also potentially be one of the most dangerous home appliances you can acquire. So with that in mind, what can be done to ensure your gas boiler is taken care of and in the event whereby it starts to malfunction, what can be done to remedy the situation?

With regular maintenance and repair of your gas boiler, you’d have absolutely nothing to worry about. However one of the fear several DIYers have is the fact that they might just end up incurring more expenses on services they didn’t really need in the first place. But when it comes to gas boilers, it’s necessary to be certified to work with them as it’s very dangerous to tackle it all by yourself. Despite this, there are still some minor issues that you wouldn’t need to hire a technician to resolve. In some cases, all that would be needed is simply to reset the boiler. To identify where the reset button is, simply go through your boiler’s manual for more information. Most times, all you’ll have to do is press down the reset button for a couple of seconds. If the boiler isn’t fully restored to its normal proper functioning state after two resets, then you may need to call in a professional for help.

The size of boiler you need will depend on the size of your commercial property, how many radiators and bathrooms you have and how appliances willl need hot water at the same time. The boiler size refers to its output, which is measured in kilowatts (kW), rather than the actual dimensions. Speak to your boiler engineer about which boiler is suitable for you, as if you have more than one bathroom or a lot of people in your home a combi boiler might not suit you.

How Much Oil Does A Boiler Use?

Are you also interested in knowing the quantity of oil that a boiler consumes to heat up and keep a house warm? Well, you’ll find the answer here. There are so many influencing factors that determines the quantity of oil that’ll be used by a boiler. These factors include the number of hours they’re subjected to use on a daily basis, the boiler’s size as well as how efficient it is. Another factor is how you use your boiler, whether it’s only to provide heating or to provide both heating and hot water will as influence the quantity of oil your boiler uses. As a result, it’s almost impossible to provide an accurate estimate of the amount of oil that an appliance would require to keep running effectively.

In general, to provide a rough estimate, a mid sized oil boiler appliance could make use of up to 3.5 litres of oil per hour when full, but if it’s a large appliance, then it can burn up to 4 litres of oil per hour. However, it should be noted that this is only when the boiler is operating flat out. In the event whereby the water inside the heating system is already hot and the boiler is only working to maintain the level of warmth, much less quantity of oil will be used. And as expected, there will also be times in which your boiler will not be on, and therefore no oil or fuel will b used.

Your home’s size as well as how properly insulated it is can also be a significant influencing factor here. As you would have guess a big home and/or poorly insulated will use up more oil because it’ll be harder to heat up or keep warm. Overall, for some households, 1000 litres of oil will be sufficient to get them through the year, whereas the same quantity may not be enough to get other households through just the winter months.