You probably wouldn’t show off a new boiler to friends when they come round for dinner. The bulky, might we say rather uninspiring, machine is purely functional. While it provides your home with heat and hot water, no matter how useful it is the boiler just doesn’t hold the same appeal as the latest flat screen TV or the hottest new PC. But boilers have the potential to provide great value to the consumer. In fact an energy efficient boiler could become your prize appliance by single-handedly slashing your energy bills and reducing your household green house gas emissions.
After the March votes by European experts on fridges, televisions, washing machines and the A-G energy labelling system, boilers and water heaters will be up for consideration in the coming months. Once again, there is great potential for significant reductions in both green house gases and household energy bills. In fact these machines that we use to heat our homes and our water contribute 25% of total carbon dioxide emissions in the European Union.
The proposed energy efficiency measures could be much more ambitious. Take for example a medium-sized water heater. The models currently on the market have an average energy efficiency of 35%. That means approximately two thirds of the energy used to run a water heater is lost. More technologically advanced models have efficiency levels of 50%. Unfortunately, the proposed measures require a level of only 36%.
Industry lobbies have exerted pressure and succeeded in weakening the measures that will soon be voted on. To bolster their case for weaker requirements, lobbyists have pointed to reluctant consumers who are apparently loath to pay for more efficient heaters. On the contrary, recent surveys show that Europeans are highly concerned about climate change and believe the European Union can do more to combat it. What is more, as with more efficient TVs and fridges, consumers stand to gain from more energy efficient boilers and water heaters with savings on their utilities bills.