A petition has been started for the introduction of a boiler scrappage scheme.

Behind the petition is Mick Williams of Williams & Co plumbers’ merchants, who calls on the Government to introduce a boiler scrappage scheme in which consumers would receive a trade-in for their old boilers which can then be replaced by high efficiency boilers.

In drawing up his boiler scrappage scheme petition, Mr Williams quotes figures from the Energy Saving Trust, stating that:
“If everyone in the UK with gas central heating installed a high efficiency condensing boiler, we would save enough energy to heat 3.4 million homes for a whole year and save around 13 million tonnes of Carbon Dioxide. The householder could also save around a third on their heating bills.”

Mr Williams contends that a boiler scrappage scheme would hopefully emulate the success of the car scrappage scheme, helping to stimulate growth in boiler manufacturing and related industries.

And it’s the super efficient combination boilers – more often known as combi boilers – that will benefit from such a scheme. They are around 96% efficient and very cost-effective. They are so efficient because they employ condensing technology, which effectively has two grabs at the heat generated by the fuel. The first from the combustion process, the second from the heat within the heat exhaust gases. Combi boilers are dual function (another cost saving), providing, on demand, both hot water for the taps and hot water for the central heating system. And because the water is heated on demand, there is no need for a hot water tank to store previously heated water. Although this might cause problems for larger properties (which have more than one bathroom for example), modern day combi boilers can be purchased which produce large quantities of hot water capable of sustaining most properties.

Carl Arntzen, Director, Worcester Bosch Boiler, is backing the petition because of the benefits to the industry as well as to the environment. He believes that it will both increase employment and help reach Government climate change targets.

The petition for the boiler scrappage scheme, which has already attracted over 300 signatures, can be found at: petitions.number10.gov.uk/boilerscrappage. The cut off date to join the petition is 21st July, 2010, so there’s plenty of time to add your weight.

Guest Article by Neil Camp