Gas boiler replacement saves family over 800 kWh per quarter

A worldwide pandemic closely followed by a cost of living and energy crisis has put unprecedented pressure on many UK households. The Jones family of Shropshire was no exception. The boiler heating the family’s 1960s three-bedroom home in Shrewsbury had been unreliable since before Covid-19 lockdown measures forced both Gareth Jones and his wife to work from home. The pressure on their heating system from additional use, rising fuel bills and the cost of monthly boiler breakdown insurance, forced the family to reassess their heating provision when their boiler failed again.

“When the boiler stopped working in autumn 2022, the insurance company did indeed promise to fix it straight away,” explains Gareth Jones. “But when we did the maths, another repair didn’t make financial sense. We estimated that by replacing the boiler with a new, more efficient unit, and by cancelling the £300 a year insurance cover, the investment would pay for itself in less than two years.”  

Out with the old, in with the new

Through his work as digital marketing manager for heating systems manufacturer, Viessmann, Gareth knew how much difference a new boiler would make to his family, including his 12- and 10-year-old daughters, and black lab, Dougie.

“Because of our property’s age, a full damp course was never an option, and neither was wall cavity insulation. Whatever steps we could take to boost energy efficiency would be really critical,” says Gareth.

Gareth searched for a local installation company on Viessmann’s lead generation system, and was contacted within 24 hours by Wolverhampton-based Heating Improvements Ltd. The company, which has worked with Viessmann since 2018, is able to offer extended warranty to customers at no extra charge. 

Heating Improvements’ company director, Ahmed Ali, conducted a site visit and survey, and in November 2022, heating engineer, Abdul Rasul, specified and installed a 30 kW Vitodens 050-W wall-mounted, gas condensing, combi boiler. The model boasts an ERP efficiency of 92% (class A) and it's compact design was perfect for Gareth's home office.

But before looking to the future, Rasul first had to tackle the past, removing existing brickwork in order to correctly install the boiler’s flue. “Ali’s site visit revealed that the brickwork supporting the previous installation didn’t meet current building regulations, so changing it was essential,” details Rasul. “Also, the use of the space where the boiler was situated was being changed from an office to a utility room. This meant we had to re-site drainage to allow a window to be converted into a door, in order to allow rear entry into the property.”

Rasul added Viessmann’s weather compensation technology, whereby an outdoor sensor reads the external temperature and communicates with the boiler so that it works as efficiently as possible to provide constant indoor comfort. Before commissioning the system, Rasul also conducted a radiator flush, added a limescale reducer to prevent the area’s typically hard water from damaging the boiler, and applied a magnetic heating system filter to remove metal debris from the radiators, something which is known to negatively impact efficiently.

More than 800 kWh saved

Now on the other side of a particularly cold UK winter, the Jones’ new boiler is working well, and already making a difference. Even without the employee discount, Gareth estimates the family saves roughly 13% on their energy bills a month, which equates to a reduction of over 800 kiloWatt hours (kHW) of energy saved per quarter.

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