Government launches new Boiler Plus Legislation

In December 2016, the Government consulted on a range of policy proposals, collectively known as ‘Boiler Plus’, to give consumers more choice over the way they heat their homes and more control over their energy bills.

The new ‘Boiler Plus’ standards outlined here are designed to improve the way many people use energy in their homes by giving them greater choice, greater control, and tangible savings on their energy bills.

From April 2018

  • Minimum Control Requirements

    From April 2018 gas and oil boiler installations in English homes must include devices that enable the consumer to programme the system to come on and off at set times, and set the temperature to achieve the greatest comfort in the home.

An additional energy saving measure must be installed …

From April 2018, ‘Boiler Plus’ standards state that when a gas combination boiler is installed in a domestic property in England, one of the following additional energy efficiency measure will be mandatory.

  • Flue gas heat recovery systems

    FGHRS recover heat from waste flue gases to preheat the cold water entering the boiler, lowering the amount of energy needed to warm the water up to the required level.

  • Weather compensation

    Modern condensing boilers are most efficient when the central heating system runs at lower temperatures, but many never achieve condensing mode as the operating temperature is set too high. Weather compensation interacts intelligently with the boiler to reduce water temperatures, which increases efficiency without compromising user comfort.

  • Load compensation

    These devices measure the gap between what the internal temperature is and what the user wants it to be, and modulates the boiler so that it only uses as much fuel as necessary to close the gap.

  • Smart controls with automation and optimisation functions

    Smart thermostats are products that let consumers remotely control their home temperature via a tablet, smartphone or desktop for greater control over the central heating system.

As part of the new ‘Boiler Plus’ Standards, Smart controls offering load compensation or weather compensation would be fully compliant with the new standard, as they would offer the same benefits listed above. Installations can also comply by using other varieties of smart thermostat, provided they offer both automation and optimisation.

  • Automation is a function that allows the device to automatically control the heating system output in response to programmed demand or occupancy detection. Advanced examples detect where householders are, such as through sensor data or geolocation based on smart phone data. This means the heating system will not operate more than necessary when it isn’t needed, and if householders are away for an extended period the heating can be switched off remotely or automatically.
  • Optimisation means the device calculates how long it takes the property to reach the desired comfort level, and times the system’s operation to minimise the amount of work it has to do. Usually it also modulates the output of the boiler in a similar way to load compensation, so as little fuel as possible is consumed.

Ensure you comply with ‘Boiler Plus’ by installing Heatmiser Smart Control.

Learn more about Heatmiser Neo here

Learn more about Heatmiser SmartStat here