The SEDBUK website is an excellent source of information for all those within oil heating industry, seeking to determine boiler efficiency. A useful feature of the website is the Annual Heating Cost Calculator, which provides indicative energy costings for home heating with electricity, LPG, natural gas, oil and solid fuel, according to property type. However, until today, the SEDBUK site failed to take into consideration recent advances in oil boiler technology.
Boiler efficiency has a significant influence on the overall efficiency and cost-effectiveness of any heating system. Previously, when estimating annual heating costs, visitors to the website were unable to specify a boiler with an efficiency rating greater than 95%. This limitation had little impact when calculating costs for natural gas and LPG boilers, where maximum boiler efficiencies are 91.3% and 93.3% respectively… but placed oil at a distinct disadvantage, given that today’s oil boilers have efficiency ratings of up to 97%.
The issue was raised with SEDBUK by OFTEC – the training, standards and registration agency for the UK’s oil heating industry – and with effect from today, the database has been updated to take into consideration the additional efficiency of modern, condensing oil boilers – relative to natural gas and LPG alternatives.
Aside from the Annual Heating Cost Calculator, the SEDBUK site has a useful database that enables the relative efficiencies of different boilers and different fuels to be compared. A quick look at the database, re-affirms oil’s position as the most efficient heating fuel available in the UK. There are some 27 oil boilers more efficient than the most efficient natural gas boiler, which has a SEDBUK efficiency rating of 91.3%. By contrast the prize for the most efficient oil boiler on sale in the UK, goes to Grant’s 36kW Vortex Condensing Boiler, which has an efficiency rating of 97%!
To view the Annual Heating Cost Calculator and the SEDBUK Boiler Efficiency Database, visit SEDUK Online by clicking the link below:
